The Ribena still sat on the bed side table
of course the Ribena still sat on the bed side table
all of the childhood in me was summed up
in that Ribena sitting on the bed side table
next to the bed
that single bed
too large for the 35 kilo chicken that resided within it
waiting.

When the sagging
milky eyed
lost stares
of the people surrounding me
holding the hands
of the people they used to know
waiting.

The crumpled blankets
holding the immovable poles
too thin to support the life they used to hold
pasty creases
hanging flesh
clinging to those old brittle bones
a small chicken
a bird
waiting.