Day 8 in Hospital

May 21st


On Saturday
The hospital takes a day off;
The time seems to stroll.


Body weight
39.6Kg
I weighed 40.4Kg two days ago.
In two days; less 0.8 Kg
I’m shrinking.


A sturdy plastic sling was
Spread on the bed.
A nurse rolled me over on it.
I was hoisted up
In the air, suspended in limbo.


46 Kg
In January this year.
52 Kg
Around this time last year.


“My weight has reached the Big 60 before I do.”
I joked and laughed in 2009.
A round fleshy face like a perfectly healthy child
I can’t find her anywhere anymore.


I shrink and shrink,
Shrink all the way
Till I burn out
to become a star.


Dinner
Rice congee
Onion soup
White fish sauteed with butter, grilled tomato on the side
Lemon
Mashed potato Japanese style
Greens dressed in a sesame sauce


Shrinking, I
Ate
by myself on bed.
Tasteless and
Joyless.


In the Hospital on Saturday
Alone I watched as time goes by.
The Tokyo Tower lit up in blue.
Feeling blue,
I choose to slip into a sweet dream.

Poem by Maria Franki

Edited and translated by J.Ujiie