waiting in the hospital
where they showed the history channel on repeat
and I brought a loaf of sourdough bread and a jar of Nutella
maybe it was french bread
anyway
I remember hours and hours
and hours and hours
silence then hope then laughter then fear
worry
seeing the other patients come and go, finished
for what they had come for and yet
for days
there was just gossip and sadness
sitting outside to get some air bringing food nobody would eat
feelings like porcelain teacups
rattling in our seats
Jennifer Back was born and raised in LA, and is extremely proud of being a bona fide “valley girl”. She has wanted to be a writer since she was a child and this is her first poetry publication.