She started crying in the middle of rages—
not the soft kind, but sharp,
like she’d cut herself on something
I couldn’t see.
She slammed drawers.
Shouted at a spoon.
Broke a plate and sobbed
as if the world had cracked with it.
Before she left,
my mother filled the kitchen with notes
written on paper towels—
taped to the cupboards,
the countertops, the fridge.
I couldn’t read,
but I knew they were important—
squares of paper whispering rules
for someone to follow.
And then she was gone.
We went to see her
in a hospital that smelled
like bleach and stillness.
She didn’t get up—
just sat in a wheelchair
with a white bandage
wrapped around her throat
like she’d tried to swallow something
that wouldn’t go down.
After that,
she came home quiet.
No more yelling.
No more crying jags.
She took down the notes,
made my lunch
and folded the laundry
like nothing had happened—
like maybe I dreamed it.
I didn’t ask why, and she didn’t say.
But I tried not to spill things.
I tried not to be loud.
Categories:
thyroid, childhood, confusion, family, mental
Form: Free verse
Little of no Vitamin C
And Scurvy is what you shall see;
The iodine-poor diet: Goiter
And it’d continue to loiter:
A lot of pulsing and bouncing
Like a ball for a team’s trouncing;
On one’s sad neck hanging around,
Auto-immune disorders hound!
Then, somehow, can one it avoid
And have not The Bogus Thyroid:
Lots of what richly give Iodine
Safe diet, no Cimetidine...
Goiter not good for camera,
Snapshots skipping it chimera.
Categories:
thyroid, cry, fear, food, health,
Form: Rhyme
I
The former Minister said, "You are born out of the world,"
Not into it! Think of a flower, How is it born?
Myriads of marvelous blooms are born into the world
And we, humans, want to be sui generis, alone!
II
When you think of a wonderful waterfall, serene
Your (thyroid &) internal organs calibrate your fuel efficiently
By forsaking angry thoughts, envy ... you are naturally
Healing your body & mind, or slowing their decay
III
Loving Nature, thanking plant & animal as you say Grace
Much as Amerindians did before, during, after hunt & growth
So close were they (but without Jesus), sensing Spirit in all
Perhaps erring only in valuing Creation more than tribal foes
IV
So while I celebrate a natural life, tuned to the universe
I believe the words in Scripture (Romans 1)
Free-willed humans worship created things, idols made by us
Not the Creator, who gave all tribes rules to control NUMBER 1
V
In concluding this sermon of a poem, readers
I evoke a smile from you, about social distancing:
We have been practicing it for too long with Nature
When COVID19 returns humans to more "natural managing."
Categories:
thyroid, angst, bible, health, nature,
Form: Prose Poetry
I don’t want a tape worm sucking away inside
For that would certainly dent my inner pride
My choice would be for an overactive thyroid
And to have my fat from my body to be devoid
Why can’t I be thinner for all my friends to see?
A stolen mirror’s look would always satisfy me!
© Paul Warren Poetry
Categories:
thyroid, fun,
Form: Ballad
A scorpion tail
Tell me when it's safe to yell
For God's sake I'm shaking here,
Breaking here, taking breaths of arid air
And drowning
Sandy bubbles rising, crowning
An anticlimactic pop
Please stop! You're hurting me
The heat, it steeps like morning tea
Your sandy screams live and breathe
My self-fulfilling prophecy
It burns, I can't. I can't
I can't be water for you cup
Deserted here with not enough
I'm empty too. It's
Me.
My disease.
Categories:
thyroid, abuse, anger, angst, anxiety,
Form: Free verse