Poems

The Corridor

(A corridor that leads to the operating theatre of a hospital in Aleppo)

 
The wolf in the corridor –
like a stray soul
in the recovery room
where antiseptics don’t work
and passers-by
only pass by with heads bowed
 
                       
 
Let bandages unroll in the waiting room
Follow the drops of blood
 
                       
 
They are sick with cruelty
Rancid fat on the bed
 
                       
 
The wolf in the corridor –
its shadow on the wall
wounds the little girl and the grandmother
 
                       
 
Don’t rest your head on a dirty shirt
Don’t ask why the woman is crying behind the door
 
                        *
 
The wolf in the corridor –
Stop the music
He is dying