Chronic Illness Poems - Poems about Chronic Illness

In a Coat of Pain

I’ve knocked on every door of medicine men—
doors painted with hope.
Swallowed pills of every size and colour.
Been told,
“This one never fails.”
Another promise—
fulfilled only in disappointment.

The body that once felt mine
now feels like a stranger’s—
still wearing my name tag.

I sleep early,
trying to rinse myself from pain,
but wake up
still dressed in it.

The coat I wear?
Pain-stitched—
by a tailor

What You Eating? A Letter to Friendship, Fur, and Fried Calamari

Our story began behind bars with the broken,
Displaying our armor with truths left unspoken.
Through the gates each day, our counselor hats on,
Where pain wore a face, and hope felt long gone.

You, with your wisdom and counselor’s grace,
Me, burnt out but still showing my face.
We stitched up souls with words and care,
In a world where few

When Hope Begets Hopelessness

H ealth forsakes you
O ver and over magic tonics promise recovery
P otential healing lures promising in the trees, again
E ven Eve knows better than to pick and eat, again

New Normal

I'll be fine tomorrow—
a whispered promise to no one, to myself.
It's a nuisance, a pain in the
assiduous characters of my intellect,
unrelenting,
well-meaning, but delusional,
nothing truly unusual.

I'll feel fine in a week.
Only the weak build paper-thin walls -
desperate shields against a crumbling sky.
They're cracking,
but denial is refuge.
For now.

Maybe a month
or two?
Freedom is just a few short stretches

The Eternal Pine Forest, An Unofficial Love Sonnet

I love the winter, the way it whirls my breath
Away; reminds me I am alive, there's hope.
I love the ferns bejeweled in snow, the heath
As it patterns our legs, walking forest-roads.
I love the spring, that washes snow away,
Brings flowers, strong roots, fragile and pale-
Seeming. I love the summer, storm-blaze
Lazy lightning, theater of stars, golden corn
That

15 Year Sentence My Fight For Freedom

15 years I have been a prisoner
I was the victim of identity theft 
Who I was, that person was stolen, 
And it was I who had to do the time
Despite not being the culprit of the crime  
Half my life was taken away from me
 and i couldn't do anything about it 
apart from

Ninth

duskfall creature,
tipsy on the blood of the covenant,
tell me, when did you pull the ninth card?
when your fangs grew in
and your eyes grew tired,
what made you build the castle walls?

the sunlight burns, you protest,
every silver-backed mirror a reminder to forget.
close the books, put down your stakes,
because the real world doesn’t work like that, creature of

Shingles and Me

Shingles is something I live with daily
Chosen for me by whom?
I have no idea.
I doubt it is my choice, as it is painful.
My skin is tender; shingles is red, raw, sore, and rough.

This disease is something I try to forget about every day.
I can push it back into the farthest corners of my brain.
If I

Can'T Cope No More

Can't take no more

I just can't cope anymore,
The pain is debilitating,
The addiction consuming,
Both exhausting.
The dark corners of my mind are closing in, there all I can see clearly,
The demonic whispers fill my ears loudly,
I feel the reaper staring at me, his watchful glare burning,
I wonder what he foresees,
He watches waiting for me from his lair,
He

Rainy Day

I woke up this morning
To a very dark, gray day
And the aches and pains
That I wished would go away

It's dark and it's cold
And everything is wet
All day I've been wondering
"Is it bedtime yet?"

I know the rain
Helps the flowers grow,
The earth needs the rain to live
This I know

But when I sit up in bed
When I wake
A

Pain No Pleasure

Pain it's back again 
Coursing through each vein
Pain it never leaves 
Consuming me for its needs
Pain hangs on me 
Theres no where to hide or flee 
Pain my bestest friend 
Haunting me to no end 
Pain emotional physical 
It's no luxury or paradisiacal
Pain lies in wait 
Pouncing no need for bait
Pain arrives unannounced 
Staying for

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Deathly living till dying breath.
Somber dreaming a lively death.    

Body ailing, self enemy. 
Ever changing the remedy. 

Boldly living from open womb. 
Never changing, to closing tomb.

Never living a normal life. 
Ever planning for daily strife.


~J.D. Cromwell

Pain Four Letters Is All It Takes

Pain, four letters is all it takes.

Such a small word that has such meaning,

It can drive into the most innocent teething,

As we grow old and our bodies break down,

Hidden in the depths of our minds a constant pound,

It engulfs our spirits, souls and our very sanity,

It plays tricks on you, questioning what's reality,

It burns, stings,

Chronic Illness

Pain is a constant
Like the ticks of a clock
Counting out the agony of my existence
Without pain, there is no life
Or is there?
Is there an old shoe box in my brain
Where lies the faded picture of a better time?
I am afraid.
If I knew that others surf the wave that bandies me about like a sock in

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