injury | Shawn L. Bird

poem- My watering can has a leak April 30, 2020

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:42 pm
Tags: accident, again, carry on, continuation, injury, moment, poem, poetry

I race through the living room

hand cupping drips

rushing toward the sink,

but my right foot finds a puddle

and flings itself forward

I contort in a frenzied downward dance

still clutching that can,

twist an ankle,

stretch a thigh,

descend in slow motion

as husband stands agog,

an astonished witness.

Look! I skinned my knee!

We wonder together how that

particular injury came to be.

I limp to the sink, feeling four once more,

glad not to be picking gravel from the wound,

Look for leak-free watering options,

and try the task again.

Battered and bemused,

life goes on.

Comments (6)

poem- bad days November 29, 2018

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 6:01 pm
Tags: alliteration, assonance, brain injury, chronic pain, consonance, injury, internal rhyme, pain, poem, poetry, recovery, set back

When it’s a bad day,

the pain is there with waking.

Constriction or stabbing,

nausea or aching;

it fills the head until there is nothing in the world

but the hopeless frustration,

that I will never be well again.

When it’s a bad day,

there are no conversations,

no outings or errands,

only holding the head,

taking another pill,

and praying tomorrow will be

a better day.

Comments (13)

poem-moment June 15, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:46 pm
Tags: accident, alliteration, change, destiny, future, grief, injury, metaphor, personification, poem, poetry, recovery, unexpected

In a moment

everything she thought she’d be

was sliced away.

In a moment

simple expectations yielded

to new arrays.

In a moment

opportunity seized her hand

to her dismay.

In a moment

foolish disappointments

were child’s play.

In a moment

her entire future was pulled

onto a new pathway.

Comments (7)

poem- broken May 25, 2016

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:21 pm
Tags: alliteration, assonance, care, cliche, consonance, couple, injury, love, metaphor, perseverance, poem, poetry, relationship

If the broken pieces

didn’t blind him,

cripple him,

impale him,

perhaps he’d be free

to see her pain.

And seeing, to embrace it,

tame it, and more–

for her to show him

what she knows,

that slivers can be pulled,

that slats can be hammered,

that broken pieces can grow into crutches,

that the cracks of fractures

can be patched into a quilt

for a bed of nails.

Oh, he is broken, but

Comfort is where you find it.

Comments (10)

poem- sliced 2 October 2, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 8:48 am
Tags: change, growth, injury, life, metaphor, pain, poem, poetry, surgery

I was numb,

but I felt the gentle line you drew

across my skin, blade slicing deep.

You stretched me open,

revealed my patched bones,

unscrewed the metal holding me together.

Oh, you sewed me back together,

taped over the black sutures,

and here I lie, propped up against realities,

hoping for the best.

.

It sounds so lovely and metaphorical, but it’s literal. 🙂 Successful surgery this week to remove the plates and screws that repaired my broken fibula last January. The screws were working out on their own and causing a fair bit of pain. Looking forward to returning to regular, pain-free mobility very soon!

Comments (8)

poem- limping March 5, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:40 pm
Tags: change, growth, healing, injury, metaphor, physio, poem, poetry

The physiotherapist

rolls, stretches, and manipulates

my ankle joint.

Push here.

Pull there.

Between parallel bars

re-learn to walk:

roll from the heel,

flex that joint.

Let go.

If you rely on the supports

and are too tender with the joint

you’ll continue to limp.

Your body will think it must,

even when the joint is healed.

How many other ways

am I limping in my life?

How many other ways

should I re-learn to walk?

.

For Jody and Anita

Comments (22)

poem-expansion February 19, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:13 am
Tags: injury, metaphor, micropoetry, poem, poetry, quatrain, swelling

Swelling protectively

Guard against weakness

Pretend to be bigger

Ache inside.

Comments (13)

poem-stretch February 18, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 10:56 am
Tags: change, development, growth, injury, joint, metaphor, pain, poem, poetry, recovery, rehabilitation, stretch

This joint needs stretching.

Lean into the pain,

just a little push.

Hold there,

on the edge of the agony.

Relax back.

Lean again; push

just

a little

further.

Stretch the joint;

flexibility is necessary,

when you may need to run,

eventually.

Comments (17)

poem-rolling February 1, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:06 pm
Tags: adventure, anecdote, exhausted, injury, pain, poem, poetry, recovery, tired, wheel chair

I rolled into the room

delighted with engagement,

conversation,

company.

I rolled out of the room

on a high.

I rolled into the house

fell into my bed

and took fifteen hours

to recover from

intellectual curiosity.

.

Had my first big outing since I’ve been laid up with my broken ankle. I was out 6 hours for medical appointment, grad school workshop, and transportation. It was wonderful to talk to folks more erudite than my dogs, but apparently it was exhausting! The ankle wasn’t thrilled, either. I won’t be doing it again for a few weeks!

Comments (8)

poem-flipped January 23, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:35 pm
Tags: couple, injury, invalid, night owl, poem, poetry, reading, relationship, rhyme, schedule, sleep, writing

You need a silent rest

and I need recumbency.

I find a peaceful place,

I recline and read and write

throughout the night,

come to bed at dawn

to greet you as you rise.

But office workers

call at nine, nine thirty, ten

and so with blurry eyes I

pretend lucidity,

then fall back to sleep

until you return at two.

My head and ankle

have schedules

out of sync with offices,

though I’m in tuneful counterpoint

with you.

Comments (9)

Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.