Consultation By Phone During Lockdown (Poetry)

‘When this has all blown over’ —
that’s what the doctor said
as if the threat was nothing
he didn’t count the dead

His tone was so dismissive
it shook me to my shoes
I fumbled for an answer
some civil words to use

I hid my indignation
dry-swallowed sheer dismay
as every scrap of confidence
slipped silently away

I cut our consultation short —
no point in going on
when any trust or faith in him
had turned its tail and gone

I think of doctors years ago
more formal — much-admired
while this one left me ill at ease
so angry, sick and tired