DOORWAYS
The hisssssssss of the gas machine,
The hummmmm of the strip-lights,
The reassuring voice of the midwife,
The screams and shouts and curses,
Of my wife,
As she paints the air between us
Blue with her words.
Shredding my ears,
Carving my arms,
Crushing my hand.
Like an umbilical sheesha pipe,
She sucks and chews
On the Entonox tube in her mouth,
Gripping the bed-rail for dear life,
As she rides the waves of pain,
That threaten to capsize her world.
That threaten to capsize our world.
And all I want:
Is my child,
To be safe in my arms,
To be held close in my arms,
For my wife to be safe…
…And for her to stop hitting me,
Before I am thrown overboard
To drown
On the heaving, linoleum floor.
Such doorways.
Such thresholds.
Do I stand here and
‘Take my punishment like a man’?
Become a father in deed, not just name?
Do I sink down,
My body collapsing
Into the deep, brown armchair,
By the side of the bed
And let the midwife mop up
The bloody mess?
Or do I run for the closing door,
While there’s still time?
© Glyn Phillips
Something you should know:
Glyn Phillips is a poet from the West Midlands, with two books, various slam titles and a rather large moustache. He often writes comic pieces. This isn't one of those times. In 'Doorways' a man stands on the cusp of fatherhood as his world is about to change forever.
Joy to Enjoy today:
12.01am: Ancient Champion - Under Pressure »»
1am: Ade Crossen - Thoughtful Choice »»
2am: Jackie Stein - The Battle of Social Media »»
3am: Dave Pitt - Spiderman Brendan »»
4am: Jimmy Andrex - Festival of Brexit »»
5am: Brendan Hawthorne - We Are Here »»
6am: Ahmed Magare - We Cannot Walk Alone »»
7am: Emma Purshouse - Mermaid on the Number 3 »»
8am: Rue Collinge - That Year »»
9am: Deborah Alma - Mother of Pearl »»
10am: Steve Pottinger - Fatima »»
11am: Jay Lewis - Betrayal 1991 »»
12pm: Hollie McNish - Honestly »»
1pm: Emma Purshouse - Five Minutes on a Midland Train »»
2pm: Rebecca Stanhope - Take Your Hands Off Me »»
3pm: Michael Pederson - Here in a Glasgow Tenement - Not Asleep, Not Awake Either »»
4pm: Glyn Phillips - Doorways »»
5pm: PixieVic - Curious Choices »»
6pm Christian Present - Poeme »»
7pm John Robinson - My Reply To You »»
8pm David Benjamin Blower - 47 »»
9pm Emma Purshouse - Feeling Low? »»
10pm Steve Pottinger - Jam today: Mrs Veronica Blake’s manifesto for a brighter future »»
11pm Jay Lewis - The Starling 1976 »»
