Defining Pain

Noose slides around your neck,

the coarse fibres burn frail skin

as you look below your feet

and watch the ground get smaller.

Resilience doesn’t win mercy;

as your feet become shackled

levitation gains a new aid to its end

while your life is slowly extinguishing.

Courage stands on its last legs

knowing the inevitable is nigh,

dignity and pride to some just words

but to others a way of life.

Running along the playing fields

chasing an object of recreation,

To involved to notice the moving obstacles

which surround you, hindering progress.

All hear a crunch from the distance

As you fall to the ground and clinch tight,

teeth grinding and eyes watering,

the protrusion from leg visible for all to see.

Fingers brush along your feet;

nerve endings cannot sustain stillness,

frantic movement your foot’s goal

to escape the fingers grasp.

Continue