Advice

 

If your friend is ill…

 

And more especially

If they’re in hospital:

Send a card they’ll enjoy

Looking at from their bed.

Emails and texts should be

Short – just showing you care

And are thinking of them.

Never ever frame them

As a question.  Replies

Are not the pastime of

The sick, so don’t make them

Feel they need to message

Back.  Help them keep their strength

For things that matter, like

Eating.  Remember here

That food is important,

Food is key, when you’re ill.

The patient may feel sick

At the very idea –

Or, steroid-boosted, long

For feasts.  Find out if they

Are on a special diet.

Never assume that grapes

Or chocolates are the treat

You bring when you visit:

Forbidden fruit, perhaps?

But do bring edible

Goodies – of the right sort.

Don’t – an important rule –

Outstay your welcome.

Half an hour to an hour,

Perhaps?  You can’t tell from

The patient: on the road

To recovery, they’ll

Jabber away, so pleased

To have company.

But if you could see through

That closed door when you’ve left,

You’d take a guilty gasp

At the sheer exhaustion

With which they sink back on

Their pillow.  All too much.

Give them news and gossip,

But please don’t be afraid

To ask about their health.

The sense that you’ve become

An object of fear, source

Of contamination –

There’s nothing worse than this

For the sick; the feeling

That others simply squirm

In mute embarrassment.

Let’s part with one final

Rule – another never

Ever: don’t try to call

Their mobile – though you could

Text beforehand to check

If it’s okay.  What might

The patient be doing

When you ring?  Enduring

Blood extraction, talking

To doctor, unplugging

The drip en route to the

Loo?  So just think things through

And you’ll be the perfect

Friend to the stalwart sick.