The Arboreal Hospital

By Dr. Mehul Purohit

The day, risen, seems bright, In the midst of coherent sounds. Bells chiming, birds chirping, Like the mortal has no bounds. Yet, it's divergent to some eyes, Waiting to disclose what it holds. Bells chiming, birds chirping, Heard different, by different moulds. Beware, it's either the dawn, Or simply your time has run out, (When) Bells chiming, birds chirping, Mask impending delusion and doubt. Lucky you are, if you are amused, By the sounds of nature, and men. It's luxury for some, to even look around, To realise where they've come, and when.

-M.

Epilogue (just to make it comprehensible, not a part of the write up):

I have recently started working at a trust hospital where the campus has trees, birds, rains, kittens, a church with a big bell and a lot other things I might be unaware of. This poem highlights those majestic, yet subtle, moments where you just can’t ignore the fact that there is some higher power (cosmic energy? God? debatable topic) that orchestrates and fills our seemingly out of tune life, with music.

And then, you enter the hospital, match pupils with patients, their attendants, and sometimes doctors, you are overpowered with confusion, grief and sadness. The last two stanza address the power that the unknown holds and what role it plays in our lives. The uncertainty. It governs and drives our lives whether we believe it or not. The last stanza is about patients who are brought to the hospital in an unconscious state. How similar is it that sometimes, like the patients, we forget to see where we are, who and what we are surrounded with, let alone appreciating them. These patients don’t have a choice (for the time being), but we do, don’t we?

By Dr. Mehul Purohit