The Retired Gynaecologist

His now weakened, painful hands were healing hands Just only a decade ago, they were described as exquisite Fingers, insured for a million, the middle & the right index Adored by many thousands of his patients of the fairer sex

Those comforting digits ‘the diagnostic tool’ now a pathetic site Wrinkled and reddened with shrunken bones and swollen joints Stiffened by over usage, virtually fixed, unsightly and hopeless Like his eyes and ears non-functioning and passed ‘the shelf life’

VH & Repair, Ovarian cystectomy and removal of fibroids Were his bread and butter, did abdominal hysterectomy in minutes Ectopic pregnancies for saving lives and LRTs to support families Husband to do away with condoms or to the wives, their hormone pills

He never knowingly did an abortion, throughout for any price The foetus though small, he considered had a right of its own life Whether was created by an act of love or an act of lust Adhered to the Hippocratic Oath, to him life was very precious

Alas, his memory is faint and the speech is slurred, Voice once booming now is a whimper, hardly heard The beautiful nurse who was glued to him always by his side No longer there, neither his pride, nor the procession of clients

The shoulders droop and the back is hunched His heart once full of love broken and saddened Mask like face bears no smile, full of crisscross lines No teeth to show the spark has gone, virtually lifeless The flowers of youth had flown away Weeds do proliferate nearly everyday There are no warm hands to welcome him The twilight zone agonizingly extends day by day

Ariya De Silva