Agony Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The agony

He is not driving today to Lisbon to see a surgeon
who will check if the operation was successful
The nervous tension of the day of waiting has brought
in the shingle an illness so utterly depraved.
He has been partially successful in pretending the pain
had nothing to do with him and the ability to function
but there are nights when the illusion does not work
and he sinks into a vortex of suffering he cannot share
as sympathy from those concerned can bring on
a feeling that life is unfair to him alone.
The world is on the very cusp of a nuclear war due to
different faction vying for power, his problem is minor