Robbie’s Inspiration – W3 112 Haibun #poetry #W3

II. Jude’s prompt guidelines

• FORM: Haibun
• POETIC DEVICE: Onomatopoeia (3x)
• THEME: “The Beauty of Night”

According to the Oxford dictionary, onomatopoeia is the ‘formation of a word which describes its sound’. It is a poetic device that adds sound to your poem.

You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2024/06/19/w3-prompt-112-weave-written-weekly/

My haibun

This haibun isn’t what I planned to write for this challenge. Yesterday, I received a message from my elderly aunt saying she had been to the doctor because of severe pain in her kidneys. The doctor had administered an intravenous antibiotic and painkiller. I told her I’d keep my phone on in case she got worse and needed help. I slept badly and had a very bad dream. I woke up very early with a terrible feeling of trepidation … I’ve had this sort of dream and feeling of anxiety before and it’s always ended with a traumatic medical experience.

Witch Blood

In the cold, darkness of the pre-dawn, magic is at its strongest. Swoosh! Swoosh! I feel my blood moving through my body. Bungolian* blood. Witch blood. Blood tinged with the mythology of the black dog of East Anglia and the ancient ghosts of Bungay Castle. It passes subtle messages through my nervous system. A warning of difficult times ahead. Manifesting in a dream.

Ring! Ring! The sharp call of the phone pulls me out of my state of morbid anxiety. A hangover from the dream. It’s my aunt.

Pant! Pant! She’s in appalling pain. Can barely speak. Dream warning manifests as a trip to the emergency room.

Now I’m waiting …

***

Ring! Dream mist forms shards

”Hello!” Slice into tense mind

Night’s message unveiled

*My family come from Bungay in East Anglia. My mother always tells me the women have a sixth sense due to our witch blood. I don’t take her seriously, of course, but I do always have a bad dream and a feeling of anxiety before something goes wrong.

I spent the whole day today in the Emergency Room at the hospital. I arrived with my prostrate aunt at 8am and left her on the ward in the hands of the nurse at 5pm. She has a chronic kidney infection and stones.

I spent the first 5 hours sitting in the waiting room while the doctor and nurses ran test after test. It was like being at a busy airport. During that period two patients arrived by helicopter and three ambulances arrived. There is a sort of fascination to watching all this activity and organised chaos.

I spent another 2 1/2 hours helping the nurse as she was in great pain and very anxious. I also helped with her move to the ward. The ER nurse asked if I was a nurse. I told him that I’m not but that I have 21 years of practice with ERs and hospitals and nursing sick people at home.

Picture caption: Door from the inside of the ER

Picture caption: Helicopter 2 – the patient was an elderly man who’d fallen and broken his hip. He came from a remote farm and the ambulance couldn’t cross the river. I spoke briefly to his daughter in the waiting room. Her wait wasn’t very long as he went to surgery.

Picture caption: 2nd ambulance. The patient was a teenage boy who’d fallen and hit his head very badly. I spend a few hours with his young brother in the waiting room while the mother did the necessary with the older boy.

Picture caption: Helicopter 1 just after its arrival

Picture caption: Helicopter 1 close up. The patient had a heart attack. His elderly mother accompanied him and she was in quite a state. I got her a coffee and listened to her story. He was admitted and she left for the ward.