Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CITY HOSPITAL by MARGARET BODEN

First Line: A SILKEN THREAD PULLED TAUT AND TIED
Last Line: FOOTSTEPS, A VOICE, A DOOR -- MY BEATING HEART . . .
Subject(s): HOSPITALS;

A silken thread pulled taut and tied,
Then drawn across a jagged glass,
A thousand times intensified;
This permeates the thoughts that pass
And flit throughout my febrile brain,
While tossing restlessly with pain.

Then thread through glass must now have ground,
For failing that, I needs must scream,
A tolling silence crashes 'round,
Through which one hears, as in a dream,
Each tiny pin-prick spot of sound
But amplified, yet spaced apart: --
Footsteps, a voice, a door -- my beating heart . . .



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