How Much Longer?

The hands on the clock make a perfect ‘V’ now As I watch from the rigid green chair. He sits next to me, eyes narrowed, foot tapping. Opposite, a bald headed man winces. The child in the corner cries for his mum while she absently reads ‘ok’. Stark fluorescents blink, blithely Ignoring the anxiety beneath The brisk nurse nods and calls my name, heralding the longed-for, loathsome moment. The doctor with the unfathomable face holds my future in his folder. Back home, the cup rattles in its saucer