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It's My Pain, and You Can't Have It!
Kirk Mathew Gatzka (kgatzka@eaglequest.com)
pontiac-22.ppp.eaglequest.com
Wed, April 9, 1997 at 5:29AM

Describe the pain,

They say . . .

Its like, well
Imagine . . .

A bone, a large leg-bone
Think of it as made
Out of metal, chromed,
Hollow, with a vacuum
Inside, cold as frostbite.

Picture this bone, now
With burning, searing
Throbbing, tingling,
Numbing, flickering
Fire all around the
Cold chromed hollow
Frostbitten vacuum.

That cold is your bones
All of them - ALL.
That fire is your muscles
All of them - ALL.

That deep body ache
Never quite goes away,
It is here.
It is your companion.
It is going to stay
Every hour of your day
And your restless nights.

Its the worst wracking,
Body-aching
Flu you/ve ever had.
But it never goes away.

It is no respecter of
Persons
It will not surrender
To any learned Doctor,
M.D., Psychologist, Counselor,
Judge, Lawyer, Parent,
Mate, Child . . .

It chips away at your
Moods, productivity,
Self-esteem, confidence
It eats away at your
Thinking, your relationships,
Your skills, your talents.
It swallows whole
Massive chunks of
Your life, your faith,
Your hopes.

The good news is:
"It won't kill you!"
The bad news is:
"It won't kill you!"

There is no cure,
There is no blood test,
There is no inflammation,
There is no apparent
Physiological
Cause
To
Point at
and
say
"LOOK! Here is my PAIN,
Measure it!"

So, "I guess you will have
To TRUST me
When I say:
"Minor?
The PAIN is NOT minor!"

And watch as I slowly
Walk away with as
Much dignity as
I can muster.

It's just my companion.
It's only my pain,
And you can't have it!

(C)opyright 1997 by Kirk Mathew Gatzka,
all rights reserved. Used with permission,
April 9, 1997.