It's a place once you have entered in,
You never come out quite the same.
It will something end or just begin,
Depending on why it is you came.

Its walls like stethoscopes clearly hear,
Secrets shared, of in and out.
Witness to joy or soft shed tear,
A thing succumbed to or yet to flout.

Your doctor is a guileless god,
Guide to life-and-death decision.
With auscultation and gentle prod,
And knowledge-driven deft precision.

Provider of good news, and not,
Shared joy or sympathetic.
Empathetic to your life and lot,
And professionally prophetic.

Peace of mind lost or full restored,
Stormy seas or quieted calm.
Symptoms perhaps too long ignored,
Grateful nothing or regretful harm.

A place where life has many shades,
Of cloud which descends or clears,
Where hope is renewed or fateful fades,
A different course your journey steers.

A source of lost and regained hope,
Where simple words can change so much.
Of vanished control and will to cope,
Torment told from a tender touch.

Or a place where dread expected,
But the outcome quick negates.
Where more future by fate selected,
And fright and fear a while sedates.

Life extended or forecast short,
Plans for much, or final tasks.
No return, or in its confines caught,
What of your future, its door asks?