The Dark Side I Sense in You.....

This poem comes from 1977. This year was a very dark and difficult time in my life. It was a time filled with physical and emotional pain, and the writings of the time reflect the dark nature of my struggle. There were a lot of these type of poems from this period. This one just happened to fall next in the stack.

Sidelined

The pain is no stranger,

Actually it’s a quite frequent visitor

And he never misses a chance to drop in for a visit

But he’s not very gracious

When he comes he make it hard to get around

Have you ever tried to walk up three stairs

And couldn’t do it without breaking into tears?

You ought to try it sometime

Walking can make you cry

Forget about running

And jumping and all sports

I can ride bikes and swim

Without too much pain

But it’s pain all the same

Only not so bad

Everybody understands

And they really feel sorry.

That’s real nice

But it doesn’t take away

The tears.

I dream of what it use dto be

When I could walk and run

And enjoy sports

But that was before it happened

That was a trail of enthusiasm

This is a trail of observance

Damn it.

Written in 1977