Pain Vanquished
The blackness of chronic pain is a consistent constraint,
Upon what is laughingly referred to as normal life.
Normality descends into abnormality, your cries too faint
To be heard, as Pain wields his long-bladed knife.
You become battle weary, as your struggle to combat
The Mighty Pain goes on, your arsenal is replete
With medication and creams, he plays tit for tat,
With side effects you would never wish to meet.
Just when you have all but given up the fight,
And taken to your bed, wearily accepting defeat.
She appears, a Florence Nightingale, a bringer of light,
Promising to soon have you back on your feet!
She cajoles and nurses you week by week,
More drugs to overcome the side effects
And solutions to your problems she will always seek,
Standing beside you, being the shield that deflects,
All of Pain’s intentions to render you quite senseless.
You begin to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel.
A way out of the penetrating pain and tiring distress,
Finally a way to scale Pain’s towering gunwale.
Escape to a welcome freedom, to be part of daily life,
To return to work, to be a participant in the team.
Pain which, has been the bane of one’s life,
Consigned to the background, not prominent, not seen.
Oh yes, he still tries to creep under the net of morphine,
To drag down to the depths, enlivened limb and bone,
But he is vanquished at every turn, no longer supreme.
He is defeated, banished forever, he leaves me alone.
So I am out of the darkness and into the shining light,
Life no longer such an uphill struggle, joy partaken.
As my nurse promised, worthy of all the fight,
Control of my life, wrestled free and retaken!
