Chronic Pain, Part 1 Poem by Michelle Claus

you’re an uninvited guest
and my spine is your reluctant host
here you are, all ensconced in my body’s
pivot point
I wish you’d quit this joint

you waltzed right in
and couched in my vertebrae
you kicked up your feet on the cushion
and lit a cigarette
burning sciatic scars down my left leg

it was you
cloaked as a herniated disc
that urged my flesh and bone into the ER
and under the knife of a neurosurgeon
muscle doesn’t forgive blade-insults

and now you double yourself
to loiter not only in my lower back
but also stubbornly in my right elbow
you tendinitis thug
arthritis bully
spasm punk
you’re so manipulative
and antisocial
preying on weaknesses
and capitalizing on rusty-stuck exit-door hinges

I fear I haven’t seen the most of you
I fear your clones
and the chronic way in which this house of mine permits your trespass

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