MY POST-OP CASE
For days I carried about
A case containing a whirlpool
When I exercised my battered frame
Walking up and down
The cardiac recovery ward.
Inspectors came at evening
To observe the swirling liquid.
Well, is it slowing down or not?
I asked when one of them
Had stared for far too long
At my body’s agitated humours.
But they found it hard to call,
Like watchers for the shape
Of Proteus in the waves
That tumbled on Grecian shores.
© CIARAN O'DRISCOLL 2023
