Hi. While it’s still just about MS Awareness Week, I thought I would share a poem that I’ve written about my own experience with MS.
Many Scars
Taking a new path when you first appeared, a new future calling;
Your arrival was unexpected, your timing appalling.
Blinded…one-sided…completely.
Messed with my senses, if only briefly.
Our first meeting was fleeting;
Vision soon cleared and feelings restored,
Back to my life plan…or so I thought.
Stabbed in the back on your behalf;
Poked, prodded, pushed and pulled.
Something else… Can this be true?
Revealed in the tunnel. Then I knew.
You soon returned to knock me off my feet.
Against my own body, you had me cheat.
Very few knew, until your grip grew:
The Many Scars you leave, hidden from view.
Steadily you steal, stultifying senses,
Maliciously, mercilessly restricting movement.
You leaden legs, humiliate, numb and weaken
But you will not demoralise, discourage, dishearten.
Jabbed daily to keep you at bay
But you are persistent, I must try another way.
Pumped full and poisoned, immunity stripped bare;
Risks taken to escape your glare.
But the damage remains
And still you play your games:
Intoxicate me, despite my sobriety,
Your unpredictability robs me of my spontaneity.
You’ve brought much pain: punched me, kicked me, burned me.
From my mouth stolen words, thoughts from my head,
Left me weakened and bruised, worn out and confused.
Each time you attack me, you leave me with less.
The time of your next assault is anyone’s guess.
But I have one who loves me and is always by my side,
With me through these hard times and long before you arrived.
We have places to go, children to love, wonders yet to see
And I can face what you throw at me when he is with me.
How long will you be with me? They say this is for keeps
But I hope for the future and the cure that we seek.
Jodie Green 2013