Going in with her, she made sure
there was a notebook and pen
in her bag, so she could write
down stuff they might forget.

Set two alarms, drove
through the bad traffic, drank
unspeakable coffee, talked
about nothing either

would remember, waited
eventually in silence
in the scruffy room where
time gapes, swallows

everything. Strange,
what love can actually
look like. ‘The doctor
will see you now.’

First published in The Selkie, July 2019.