Daydreaming

It's hard to listen to patients
when songbirds sing outside
my open window and laughter
drifts up from families strolling
the shop-lined street. Sometimes
I drift into daydreams of a tropical
beach and the scents of coconut
oil and the sea, coming back
a few seconds later carrying
a few trinkets and a renewed
sense of hope: that a doctor
and patient in a tourist-town
office might exchange a few
words that will bring each one
closer to their vision of paradise.