In the Waiting Room

Lyrics

In Worcester, Massachusetts I went with Aunt Consuelo To keep her dentist's appointment And sat and waited for her In the dentist's waiting room It was winter. It got dark Early. The waiting room Was full of grown-up people Arctics and overcoats Lamps and magazines My aunt was inside What seemed like a long time And while I waited I read The National Geographic (I could read) and carefully Studied the photographs: The inside of a volcano Black, and full of ashes; Then it was spilling over In rivulets of fire Osa and Martin Johnson Dressed in riding breeches Laced boots, and pith helmets A dead man slung on a pole --"Long Pig," the caption said Babies with pointed heads Wound round and round with string; Black, naked women with necks Wound round and round with wire Like the necks of light bulbs Their breasts were horrifying I read it right straight through I was too shy to stop And then I looked at the cover: The yellow margins, the date Suddenly, from inside Came an oh! of pain --Aunt Consuelo's voice-- Not very loud or long I wasn't at all surprised; Even then I knew she was A foolish, timid woman I might have been embarrassed But wasn't. What took me Completely by surprise Was that it was me: My voice, in my mouth Without thinking at all I was my foolish aunt I--we--were falling, falling Our eyes glued to the cover Of the National Geographic February, 1918 I said to myself: three days And you'll be seven years old I was saying it to stop The sensation of falling off The round, turning world Into cold, blue-black space But I felt: you are an I You are an Elizabeth You are one of them Why should you be one, too? I scarcely dared to look To see what it was I was I gave a sidelong glance --I couldn't look any higher-- At shadowy gray knees Trousers and skirts and boots And different pairs of hands Lying under the lamps I knew that nothing stranger Had ever happened, that nothing Stranger could ever happen Why should I be my aunt Or me, or anyone? What similarities-- Boots, hands, the family voice I felt in my throat, or even The National Geographic And those awful hanging breasts-- Held us all together Or made us all just one? How--I didn't know any Word for it--how "unlikely". . How had I come to be here Like them, and overhear A cry of pain that could have Got loud and worse but hadn't? The waiting room was bright And too hot. It was sliding Beneath a big black wave Another, and another Then I was back in it The War was on. Outside In Worcester, Massachusetts Were night and slush and cold And it was still the fifth Of February, 1918