In the waiting room of Mercy

A hospital waiting room
is a hard place to describe:
It can be as demographically
diverse as a train station
and as nervously giddy
as a loaded plane delayed
by an unforeseen storm.

But eventually…
a waiting room becomes
a quiet place where
the simplest rhythms of life
are synchronized with strangers:
Where breaths are collectively held
and sighs collectively let go.
Where hearts beat, eyes meet,
prayers ascend, tears flow,
and pent-up praise
is sung through silent smiles.


Thanks to all of you for being there with us from afar.
TRK (Written in the waiting room of Mercy General Hospital the day after my wife's unexpected open-heart surgery)