please sit in the chair in the marked red square

please wait in your car

please stand behind the red line

please sit in the chair in the marked red square

in the grey room with the grey floor with the darker grey flecks

in the chair in the red square

they are quiet and polite behind masks

in the square grey room with the small square mirror

outside the red square with the chair

she leans in with the thermometer

with the finger clip for pulse and oxygen

on my finger in the red square with the chair

I answer questions and wait

glasses fogged above the mask

in the chair in the red square

met at the door with mask and sanitiser

please stand behind the red line

behind the perspex barrier

behind the mask and shield

the nurse asks questions then takes me

to the grey room with the grey chair in the red square

I have assigned each finger a purpose

right little finger is for glasses

which slide again and again

left little finger is to scratch my neck

in the chair in the red square

in the grey room with the square mirror

with the sink and WHO poster

on how to wash your hands

each square for a motion

I push up my glasses with my right little finger

my glasses fog

I wait for the doctor

in the chair in the red square

behind the door ajar to the nurse walking

to meet a patient

please stand behind the red line

one patient goes past

please sit in the chair in the red square

in another grey room

with a chair and a red square

like this with its drawers closed

sealed with cable ties

with cupboards and a square mirror

and a trolley with a green taped tray with CleanX

and a red taped tray with the thermometer

that came near me

with the finger clip that touched me

the doctor comes in using his foot

to open the door enough

to close the door enough

to ask his questions through the space suit

I can barely hear him through the fully sealed mask

barely see him though my fogged glasses

he stands on my deaf side and asks me to look forward

take my mask off and open my mouth

in the chair in the red square

he looks without light and swabs

I re-cover only my mouth

and the nasal swab goes in

as I sit on the chair in the red square

a toilet brush to the brain

says my sister later

her official medical opinion

treatment – hot toddy

when I am far from the chair in the red square

I cough once with the mask back on

my glasses fog as I slide them up with my right pinkie

my thumb and forefinger are for the mask

for the sanitiser, for surfaces that are not me

when the doctor leaves he uses his foot

to open the door enough

to close the door enough

to the grey room with the square mirror

with the chair in the red taped square

that must be so bare to be easy to clean

with its bare grey chair in the square

I wonder if the doctor must change everything

clean everything

before he sees the man next door

who has waited in another chair

in a red square

who will exit like me

from the other side of the building

in his mask with his information

who will drive home

close his door

and wait for word

as the next person arrives and is asked

please sit in the chair in the marked red square

please wait in the car

please stand behind the red line

please sit in the chair in the marked red square