Chronic Pain

A free verse poem

You never think your body is Going to fail you at 30 Bent under crushing weight Until bones crackle with every movement

Skin stripped of its defences Nerves exposed, fraying wildly Wires pulsing with electricity Raw dermis scathing

I chastise myself for years Of self neglect For ignoring warning signs Expecting cross country from a crashed car

Now my legs turn to jelly There’s a fog in my head That steals my sentences Solidifying into weights that pull at the ankles

Every time I’m bound to the bed Curled in anguish, breathless with fatigue I remain hidden with this hidden illness Mourning every piece silently chipped away