I hate hospitals
more than I can ever explain
in one short poem

I hate the eerie quiet
that accompanies the hopelessness
that floats through the empty hallways

I hate the food
which is just as bland as many of the
patients'
outlook on life

I hate the steady beeps
that symbolize life
but just barely

I hate the elevators
filled with strangers
giving off their sad auras

I hate the nurses
too cheerful
for their own good

I hate the floor tiles
that go on forever
in a dizzying pattern

I hate the gift shop
that sells chocolates
to give visitors and patients alike
a false sense of sweetness

but most of all
I hate the smell
it smells of milk that's about to spoil
the overwhelming perfume of nurses
scratchy bed sheets stripped and washed
sterile and clean
not linen sheets swaying in the breeze, clean
more like
scrubbed with bleach until it shines, clean

It smells how everyone feels
wrong and broken