Arthritis Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

I am happy that I can breathe,
Walk, lift my arms, sit
Without assistance, get up too:

When the eye goes dull and dark
And ear cannot do business
Without hearing aid, one slumps.

Like God touched Jonah the prophet
When any part of my body
Goes on strike, I realize its worth only then.

It is not that these things don’t happen
When one is young, but if one is also old,
That awareness multiplies trouble.

Perhaps partly in imagination, but then
Effectively makes it worse:
As an old man, you get up more slowly.