An Emergency Baptism

He looks like a witchdoctor's doll,
convincingly crafted
apart from the bulging eyelids
and blotched purple fabric,
yet there is just a touch of pink
round his nostrils.

We try to pin meaning on him
with a small jar of the
hospital's sterilised water
so life might start elsewhere,
while round his nostrils there is just
a touch of pink.