Departure – A Poem
By Nic Bryan
There’s a fish tank in the hospital waiting room.
The nurse asks me how old I am. I’m not old enough.
She puts a band on my arm. The koi fish are orange and pink, they idly swim around in their glass box.
The nurse asks me if I want to hurt myself.
No. I lie.
The fish keep swimming. They weave between flowing plants and rock arches.
She asks me what’s wrong, I don’t know. She leads me to a curtained room, leaves one pulled aside so that the other nurses may keep watch from the side of the curtains.
I lay in the bed, and from my room, I long to see fish.
I long to get out of this tank.
Warrior Word 