vocab poem

I watched, as luminescent yellow spun up and down the thread. one hundred. one hundred one. one hundred two. The spinning, the counting, was my only form of escape. There were three, actually, each of us had one, but my sister was asleep and my brother was wandering. I sat there. Three days I had been here. Although "here" had changed each day, first floor trauma, eighth floor ICU, third floor surgery, waiting rooms were all the same. It spun up, one hundred eight. Down, and up, one hundred nine. Down again, I was mesmerized. Inane palaver poured from the news anchor on the TV, fetid smells from the cafeteria wafted through the air. one hundred twelve. one hundred thirteen. one hundred fourteen. Up, down, and back up again. And somewhere, behind that attenuated sheet of glass, my mother quiescently lay, ensconced in a coma despite all the doctors had done. one hundred twenty-three. one hundred twenty-four. one hundred twenty-five. spinning spinning spinning. Darkness pressed up against the glass, obscuring the outside. My homework, which i had diligently done during the first several hours of my time here was haphazardly thrown aside. one hundred thirty-nine. one hundred forty. one hundred forty-one. up and down and up and down and up and down. beep. beep. beep. the monitor let me know she was still alive. The cold metal of the machines kept her breathing, beating, living. one hundred sixty-two. one hundred sixty-three. one hundred sixty-four. one hundred sixty-five. spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning, spinning like the world kept doing, although my own had stopped. 

luminescent (adj) - emitting light

attenuated (adj) - thin

inane (adj) - lacking sense, significance; empty

palaver (n) - mindless chatter or talking

fetid (adj) - having offensive odor

mesmerized (adj) - fascinated by

quiescently (adv) - being at rest, inactive, or motionless

haphazardly (adv) - in a random manner with out care or order

obscuring (v) - to make dark, dim or indistinct

ensconced (adj) - hidden in, or trapped