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