The Look

She looked at him,
then turned
away again fast ..
Like he was
just one more old
man in a
very large crowd ..
But then he
was just another
old man in a
very long row of
standard
issue white metal
hospital beds
and he knew that ..
And as well
as the look that
she gave him
in passing, maybe
it would
have been kinder
and easier
for them both
if she had
just turned away
and not
smiled at him like
that since ..
He knew that look
only too
well perhaps ..
Indeed, it was one
of those
knowingly over
familiar
quasi-flirtatious
yet still
uncomfortable
looks
reserved for all
those on
whom empathy
could not
possibly be wasted ..
He had used it
himself
countless times on
those who
probably hadn’t
that much time left ..