Okay, body-listen up
\nIt\u2019s time that you lay off
\nThe pain for a spell
\nWith bones cracking like
\nA thick branch snapping
\nSending sharp stings
\nI cry out
\nSilently through clenched teeth
\nSmile as I lie and say I\u2019m okay
\nWhen I\u2019m really truly not
\nAnd blink away the tears
\nWhen my knee gives out
\nLanding hard upon them
\nToo weak and pained to stand
\nThough I do anyway
\nBecause I\u2019m too young to have
\nChronic illness-
\nTo be weak.
\nMy mind argues that I could
\nDo it all before
\nBut now the body I burned through
\nTells me its time to slow down
\nBut brain says
\n\u201cNo, we\u2019ll do it anyway.\u201d
\nAnd pay the steep price of
\nImmobility for days on end.
\nMy head pounds like a steel drum
\nWith every ache further convincing me
\nThat the folds of my brain are
\nBeing cleaned with tiny wire brushes
\nScratching away like a cat at the door
\nTrying to make its escape.
\nAnd, what\u2019s more disheartening
\nIs that pain is a playground in my head
\nAnd like a scream but can\u2019t be cut short.
\nIt is forever feeling like an auto accident
\nThe invisible bruising covering my back
\nAs though I had fallen without a parachute
\nFrom 1800 feet-
\nAlthough I\u2019d much rather the tequila
\nAnd drunk dial Jose.
\nForty walking with a cane-
\nWaiting for the day when I can feel
\nMore like a badass with a shillelagh
\nWishing I was more like
\na ghost in the shell
\nwith interchangeable parts.
\nKnowing my limits but ignoring them
\nTo pretend to be who I was before
\nMy body started disagreeing with me
\nAnd decided to fight me back-
\nMuch like my fight or flight hasn\u2019t shut off
\nNeither will my pain
\nFor they remain on like Donkey Kong
\nThough, I believe he\u2019d be more apt
\nTo win this battle-
\nBetter equipped than I
\nBut I try and smile through it
\nBrush of the electric taser snaps
\nIn every stupid nerve
\nAnd if you hear me cursing under my breath
\nKnow that it’s directed at this faulty meat suit
\nAnd not at all at you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay, body-listen up It\u2019s time that you lay off The pain for a spell With bones cracking like A thick branch snapping Sending sharp stings I cry out Silently through clenched teeth Smile as I lie and say I\u2019m okay When I\u2019m really truly not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1485,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4125,349,746,4794,4793,4795,654,2158,4797,4796,355],"class_list":["post-101738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","tag-2021-poetry-marathon","tag-blank-verse","tag-body","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-fibromyalgia","tag-free-verse","tag-full-marathon","tag-ghost-in-the-shell","tag-health-issues","tag-poetry-marathon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1485"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101947,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101738\/revisions\/101947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}