The Ache

Ok, I am not a poet, but an idea for this struck me on my way into work this morning.


The Ache
from years of pain
the ache resonates
through my body
at different points
from different trauma

Collisions

Crashing

Colliding

Incisions

Punctures

And so on

Each day, I feel each one
one at a time

first, I notice the ache in my arm
the scarring from over 1,000 sticks
from large needles
the clot that remains from the damage
aches like a heart after it breaks

then, I notice the ache in my shoulder
from repeated dislocations
impacts from years ago
the pain is such that a knife has been plunged
deep inside

the ache in my neck
from stingers
bicycle crashes
the compressed spinal column
the slipped disc

the hip that was dislocated years ago
playing football with friends
the doctors reprimand sits in my mind
for playing, when I had been told not to
two years before
now, on long hikes, I need to make repeated stops
to stretch my hip or risk not finishing

the ankles, sprained and strained
now, to the point of not being able to do either
the ache that sets in when it gets cold
the cracks and creaks

my abdomen, rife with scarring
the evidence of five surgeries
the hernias that remain
the hope of repair to come soon
the ache of two more procedures
and the preparation to come.

the aches and pains of life
are showing
as I feel each one
it takes me back to a time
in my life
that through the pain
I remember fondly.

The greatest numbing agent
that gets me through the pain
is the love of my wife
the hope of my daughter to be
and living my life for Christ
knowing what he endured for me
that my pain is minor in compare.