Artistic Forum: Poetry
New Poetry Links :
Conversations with a Movement Disorder
By Kathie Stehr, April 25, 2000
I say left, it says right.
I want to walk on the path.
It wants to trip on the grass.
I lift the spoon to my mouth.
It pours the soup down my chin.
Mixed messages,
Mismatched thoughts,
Scrambled and diced,
tangled and tossed,
flooding my confused brain.
Circuits overload,
Wires are crossed.
Pathways are lost.
My body, a weary vessel
Screams “Enough, stop!”
We make a strange team..
Me and It
Dysfunctional parts,
a body and mind,
That just won’t fit.
Dystonia, i.e., Cervical
by James Gallagher
Dystonia is
A neurological condition
Nothing can stop it
Unless it is remission.
Not degenerative progressive
One has to give and to give
It takes times entirety
For a sufferer to live.
No modifications
No change to ones home
Muscles just pull and push
We have this alone.
My comfort
My independence
Is paramount, please
I have a disorder; not a disease.
Ask me
I will tell you
Let your curiosity cower
The look on your face;
Why does it sower?
Botox For Free Months
by James Gallagher
You know those injections
That makes the stars look younger.
Well I get them quarterly
To stop my neck looking longer.
My body is 37,
I sometimes feel 16.
Botox is a nerve block,
It counteracts the lean.
We gravitate with age,
Age gravitates, as I lean.
With no expression on my neck
At a stretch I’m 17.
6 to 8 injections,
2 vials, aptly named
Botox for muscle spasms,
As wrinkles don’t complain.
They used to say in older days,
Smear a sun dead chicken on your face.
Not with modern technology;
Botulinum Toxin takes its place.
Poetry by Pete Lee
Bio: Pete Lee has had cervical dystonia since about 2001, diagnosed in November 2005. His poetry has appeared in hundreds of literary publications; most recently in the online journals Armada, Perigee, Right Hand Pointing, and Literary Chaos. He is 50 years old and has been writing poetry since the age of 16. He lives with his wife in Ridgecrest, California.
Dignity intact
above all these Christmas lights,
the unblinking moon.
during a quake update
an aftershock
knocks over the TV
passing between them –
two deaf people conversing
with their hands — I duck
passing the revival tent
the brook speaks in tongues
riffling the surface
of a just-closed public pool
the school year’s first wind
smoking on the porch
how perfect everything is
except that we die
stranded on the beach
at low tide:
a pair of undershorts
under a full moon
wavelets lapping the shore
( g ) l i s t e n
We walk silently
through the clear-cut,
stumped for words.
winter
no birds
flu
Reminder
by Vynne Frederick, 2006
Be comfortable in your own skin,
and don’t ever think you are worth any less
than someone who appears to have no challenges.
As a counselor, I have yet to meet one person
who does not have “stuff” to work through.
The Earth School assigns us opportunities to grow,
and for some they come in the form of health-related issues.
Remember, the essence of who you are has nothing to do
with your medical condition,
your habits, your financial or social status
or any other external factor,
so try not to let this define you.
Within you lies the key to your wellness,
and a healthy mind and spirit are priceless.
A Disordered Symphony
by Kathie Stehr, 1997
I can hear the drumbeat,
as my head jerks to the right.
The cymbals crashing,
as it shakes to and fro.
I didn’t want to hear it.
I would rather hear mellow,
peaceful music.
The fluid sounds of quiet muscles.
The band plays endlessly sometimes.
It seems to lack a conductor.
Not even an intermission,
to rest a weary mind.
Oh God, I’m tired today.
Please turn the music off.
Dystonia Awareness is Weak
by James Gallagher (Australia), 2006
Dystonia awareness lies in
What Dystonia is
Support and knowledge in the essence
Of normality that you give
Task specific, early onset
Are there others just like me?
Blepharospasm is a Dystonia
Sometimes I cannot see
Dysphonia is of ones voice
It can affect the vocal chords
My voice may speak in a gasping whisper
I am not breathless
That’s absurd
Cervical Dystonia affects
Posture, movement in the neck
My head tilts forward, back
Or leans left or right
A normal response is not
“Oh heck”
“A Focal Clonic Tonic Anti Retrocollis”
Is not normal
Though possible it may be
Be aware, about Dystonia
As you may be or perhaps just know
Out of 10000
One of the undiagnosed, treatable 3
May life treat you with care and dignity.