Satan wants my leg
The right one
He's been trying
for years
First when as a child
in Gonja Hospital
Butt injection smack
in sciatic nerve
The pain - oh my god
flexed my knee
Dr. Lubia with a board
straightened it
Then an excited preteen
on class excursion
Tomato plant in Pwalugu
leg in drain gutter
The osteo that mom treated
with prayers & tears
Anyamu the medicine man
with boiling herbs
Today the herniated disc
pain - oh my god
The drop foot and more
L4-L5 L3-L4
Satan wants my right leg
he wont get it
Try as hard as he can
I'll still keep it
Categories:
herniated, africa, pain,
Form: Free verse
Two old buzzards stand
High in a dead slick pine tree
Vision limited
Two old people speed in pick-up
One turns head sees polka-dots
No chance of seeing
Flamingoes anywhere near
Polka-dotted stars appear
Turning my head like an owl
Herniated disc cracks loud
Categories:
herniated, life,
Form: Tanka
Your eyes are too dodgey
Your hearing is shot
Your body just ain't got
The means to stay hot
Your back's herniated
You can't bend when you dress
To tie your shoe-laces
Will cause you distress
Your intake's been clogging
Your choke's out too long
If you don't write it down, son
You'll sure get it wrong
Your knee joint's a mess, kid
Your ankles are weak
Your wrists cause you pain
When you move them, they squeak
Just write me a letter, doc
Tell 'em I can
They don't know the best of me
The man that I am
I worked at the strangest
And toughest of tasks
Just sign on the line, doc
That's all that I ask
Your lungs have been scarred
By the fumes and the dust
I'd leave you outside
But I'm scared that you'd rust
You don't seem to fit in
Your undoing's been done
Your two steps behind, son
Your race has been run
You're over the hill, kid
Too long in the tooth
If you were a horse
You're the one that they'd shoot
And then if I do
Sure where will you go
There's millions as qualified
Isn't that so
Categories:
herniated, conflict, emotions, work,
Form: Rhyme
Oh, to be young again
To do the things I did then
To run and play, dance and sing
With not a worry about anything
Oh to be young once more
Before middle age crept in the door
Before the pull of gravity
Made these wrinkles on my knee
Oh, to be young and in my prime
Happy-go-lucky all of the time
All my dreams were ahead of me
Knowing just what I wanted to be
Oh, to be young an physically fit
Doing things just for the fun of it
Crazy and wild and taking risks
Before I had herniated disks
Oh, to be young and so smart
No worries about a broken heart
Thinking life would always be
The way it was for you and me
Oh, to be young and free
I would not go back, you see
Unless I knew what I know now
Mistakes I made, I'd fix somehow
Categories:
herniated, childhood, funny, nostalgia,
Form: Couplet