Poem 142: Better Safe Than Sorry

I went to brush my teeth last Friday evening, and what did I see?

One of my eyes was coated in red where the white is supposed to be

It certainly shocked me when I looked at myself in the mirror

My online diagnosis said things aren’t as bad as they would appear

They called it a subconjunctival hemorrhage, a bleeding of the eye

All I can say is that it scared the hell out of this guy

I was satisfied with what I read and headed to bed for the night

I got up in the morning and started to feel uptight

My left eye looked redder than the night before

Decided to go to emergency just to be sure

I didn’t want to do it because it was a cab I would have to call

Just to get to the hospital totaled twenty five bucks in all

I had to sit in the back behind the plexiglas barricade

I am still lamenting about the fare that I paid

The hospital issued me a new mask to replace the one I wore

I had to switch them or they wouldn’t let me through the door

Once I checked into emergency they gave me a wristband to wear

Then sent me to the waiting area where I spent four hours in my chair

While I was sitting there, everyone was busy gawking on their phones

A roomful of people and still everyone was alone

Seeing I couldn’t concentrate, I put my phone to airplane mode

There was free wifi available which didn’t require a code

I found myself watching the television for most of the time I was there

I couldn’t really hear it well, so I just sat there to stare

They had it on HGTV and I recognized the show

I had to know if they were going to love it or list it before I had to go

I was thinking of taking the bus home when I was done

I also thought of walking although it would be quite a run

I was too stubborn to pay for another cab because I am too cheap and thrifty

No way I was doing that because the amount would total fifty

Finally my named was called out and then spent another hour waiting to be seen

It turned out the information I read was exactly what it had been

The actual time with the doctor turned out to be very brief

It was nice to get out of there and have that sense of relief

I got out of the parking lot ended up walking home all the way

It turned out the distance was shorter than the course I take everyday