The Immortalised Hallux Poem by ACHINGLIU KAMEI

The hallux had become the morning star,
The battered, sacrificed toenail,
Made to believe it needed to give up its life.

I'll come to the point where,
My lovely dorsal plate
Had decided to part ways with my toes.

The hallux could not take it anymore.
It was squeezed into a tight shoe.
And was hit continuously for eleven plus hours.

It became red with pain,
Or with embarrassment,
Or most probably because of anger.

You see, I ran for eleven hours.
Post the trauma,
The keratin stopped growing-
It went on hunger strike,
Must have heard me talk about Gandhi-
How effective.

My big toe remembered all too well.
Its revenge-
The pain kept me awake many nights,
The deep thudding pain, the ache
Like a mother's hunger
Strangely finding pride in the pain.

Soreness that followed,
After the abandonment of passion
Formation of rainbow colours,
Then the deepening of colour like ripe grapes
Giving way to the brown- faded and jaded.
Then no more pain on the toes.

Praying for a smooth pink dorsal plate
A rebirth, a regeneration
Clearly grace for abuse.

Like Belinda's lock, this hallux
The Muse shall consecrate to Fame-
"And mid'st the Stars inscribe",
The runner's name on the Hallux.