Celebrating the life and works of Writer, Julia Darling
Julia’s poem ‘A Waiting Room in August’ was the featured Saturday Poem in The Guardian on 22 August 2015. It is from the recent poetry collection Indelible, Miraculous published by Arc. It would have been Julia’s birthday on 21 August.
To go to the Guardian site to read ‘A Waiting Room in August’ click here
A Waiting Room In August
We’ve made an art of it.
Our skin waits like a drum,
hands folded, unopened.
Eyes are low watt light bulbs
in unused rooms.
Our shoulders cook slowly,
in dusky rays of light.
This morning we polished
our shoes, so that they should wait
smartly. Our wigs lie patiently
on our dignified heads.
Our mouths are ironed.
Acute ears listen for
the call of our names
across the room of
green chairs and walls.
Our names, those dear consonants
and syllables, that welcomed us
when we began,
before we learnt to wait.
Call us to the double doors
where the busy nurses go!
Haven’t we waited long enough?
Haven’t we waited beautifully?