When people ask me
“how are you”, I say “fine”,
a short reply but a huge lie,
because I am a walking hospital
where in every corner disease lurks,
from head to toe the list is below.
The head splits in hypertensive headache morning till night
One eye’s vision is hazy with AMD, the other’s with cataract
The red nose runs the whole winter with spells of sinusitis
The ears are blocked to near deafness by obstinate hard wax
The aching shoulders have been frozen long by spondylosis
The blocked heart paining in angina has two stents though
The stomach secretes burning acid more than necessary
The liver sends artery-full of LDL to the stenosed heart
The sluggish kidneys have built bags under the eyes
The bloated prostate breaks sleep thrice at night
The knee joints abrade painfully in osteoarthritis
The big toes swell red in ceaseless bouts of gout.
I am still walking my hospital,
searching for a patient doctor (GP)
who will take charge and cure me.
July 29, 2019
Contest : Writing Challenge 3, July 2019 - List
Sponsor : Dear Heart
If you are reading my poem
For rhyme and meter, you
May turn the page for my age
Wants to tell you a tale of
Raising children, falling on toys,
Diseases and broken bones,
Nights of fear and
Days of joy.
Of loss of a husband and
Middle class money,
Too much for stretching,
Too little to spend;
Of in-laws in-loves and
Millions of out-laws.
I will tell you of surgeries,
Heart stuff and stents
Learning mechanics to fix
Old cars that wouldn’t start and bent;
Sewing machines and mending jeans;
Strong thread that ran through
The silken colors of love,
That came down freely from above.
But if you yearn for rhyme and meter,
Move on, change these lines and
Color me forgiven.
I ate;
I ache;
Now I smell up the air;
passing those flatulent gassy breeze;
Inhaling warm air, burping a bleach;
Constipated, concentrated dreams;
Reality pinching me at the seems;
Evacuated;
Re-leaved myself;
Now I deposited wasted products;
Inhaling warm air, burping a bleach;
Biodegradable stents;
Reality pinching me at the seems;
Constipated, concentrated dreams;
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2018 ©
11/15/18
It's wonderful to have three wishes granted
The first one l'd take is for my failing health
My age-worn blocked heart wears two stents
I wish they don't fail until l take my last breath.
Life is treading turmoiled pathway so unsure
Mind is searching a destination, a calm niche
Where it'll find the shade of peace pristine pure
To reach the tranquil abode is my second wish.
Many warm hands held mine on my journey
From your blooming hearts fragrance came
I wish till the end of my time you'll love me
And remember me when I'm gone as I am.
October 27, 2018
Eighteen yellow roses arrived today
The forth of September, with walnut tree
leaves Falling like snow, twirling to the ground
Nineteen years ago Rose arrived that may
The eighth of may, with black pekoe tea
Leaves twirling in my cup, spun my world around
Each year another yellow rose joined the spray
In our marriage we just grew more free
Under Each stone turned, more love we found
Each year another since our wedding day
entwined together, she taught me how to be
Over my stone heart she always astound
Seventeen times that annual bouquet
September fourth, under the walnut tree
Under love lightened hearts we danced around
Twice she got stents and god, did I pray
For life without her I just could not see
Third time, no charm, left me gagged and bound
Sixteen weeks since she left this world, that day
The fourth September dying walnut tree
Dried yellow petals, weep dull lifeless sound
yet
Eighteen yellow roses arrived today
A HEARTY EXPERIENCE
Bad cholesterol found easy sites in my heart for deposition
Time came when they needed to be cleaned by operation.
Two stents were planted by what they called angioplasty
My heart would survive if the arteries didn't again get nasty.
As medical treatments were getting day by day costly
For future financial relief I got a health insurance policy.
I realized the meaning of the saying nothing lasts forever
When some years later my heart in angina started to quiver.
No options left, I had to lie once again on operation table
The doctors did their job well to make my heart stable.
The rightful claim of expenses the insurer refused to cover
For I had more than one stent placed already as heart saver.
I then realized howsoever in the ads the offers glint
In real life one shoulda read the fine print.
February 1, 2018.
Night casts shadows on hollowed ground
An eagle flies, painful the screams;
While reddish crown lifts, armed with grit
That its rafters fight bleak of dreams.
Wisps of clouds, like puffs of smoke
Rage on stents of bushy trees
Its royal pose and nest fledgling,
Are caught up in a claw's tight squeeze.
Soon mighty eagle flees by night,
Wings swooping to escape arrest;
To gather might for life ahead
Unfolding freedom at its best.
Dated 10/22/2015
Screwed Vlll Contest
Sponsor: rob carmack
-------------
~Dedicated to the endangered Monkey Eagle of Asia
which may become extinct due to unlawful hunting.~
Spring's annual rhythms cerebrally flow
Nature's mercurial splendour to show
Balmy portents o'er icy mantle glow
Earth's axis tilts; hearth to mellow
Helios's furnace with spawning heat doth bellow
Residual beams to brush face so sallow
A glossy, emerald sheen on encrusted folds bestow
A jaundiced hue from airy cisterns doth shadow
Revitalizing streams from seeded pods to strow
Invigorating tides enrich pores once fallow
Christening fauna peeps through stents so shallow
Anon, a clover tent the sodden expanse will hallow
Silken wicks enlighten bristling, woody tallow
Shortly, festive plume recedes; amber gown doth billow
Glittering fauna shades each jaded dale, pensive hollow
Fragrant incense each fleeting step will follow
Spring's fertile currents now through each, nestled channel row