Posted on CategoriesPoetry /

In the waiting room

A person who knows no roof
But intimately knows his green tarp

A person who lost his friend
To the cold last week

A person who gives bear hugs
And likes to read

A person who has not had the chance
To wash his jacket since
It was fished out of the donation bin

This person sits in the clinic waiting room
And pulls out a baggy with
Deodorant shavings
Calming the tremor in his hands
He grabs some shavings and smears them over his jacket
And pants and neck
He’s worried he’ll offend the doctor’s nose

In the waiting room, Poetry by Luisa Rusta

Luisa is a student in the UUSOM Class of 2025. She has a BS in Biology and has spent a year working as a Medical Assistant at the Fourth Street Clinic, where she now enjoys volunteering. She also likes to do ballet in her kitchen, sit by a campfire, and read cyberpunk novels.