I do not suffer well.
\nIf I bruise my finger,
\nI call an ambulance.
\nI let the papers know!
\nI look sadly at the nurses
\nand play stoic,
\nthough they know my game,
\nand I suffer even more.
\nIt is not cowardice that afflicts me.
\nIt is not fear of pain,
\nor pain itself.
\nIt is just loneliness,
\nbeing forgotten.<\/p>\n
So I make a nuisance of myself
\nand get no pity.
\nPeople never inquire how I feel,
\nand are alert to my moods.
\nIf I frown, they disappear,
\nlest they hear of apocalypse
\nand genesis,
\nbearing enough suffering of their own
\nto last two lifetimes
\nSo no one cares,
\neveryone acting as if everything
\nwere fine,
\nand nothing bad ever happens to them,
\nand nothing ever will,
\nand they don\u2019t want to be reminded
\nby the likes of me.<\/p>\n
But let me tell you,
\nit\u2019s all a lie.
\nI am a hero,
\nI don\u2019t suffer at all,
\nI endure pain
\nlike a woman endures childbirth,
\na mixture of good and bad
\nwith a blessing.
\nIt is, as I said,
\nonly loneliness that afflicts me.<\/p>\n
Being unloved,
\nforgotten,
\nput away.
\nFor a woman not being pretty,
\nfor a man,
\nnot being admired.
\nIt is our human way.
\nOur coming and going.
\nPerhaps I\u2019ll fool the next person I see,
\nand tell them I\u2019m fine,
\ncouldn\u2019t be better,
\ninvite them to lunch,
\nand cure the real problem
\nof company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I do not suffer well. If I bruise my finger, I call an ambulance. I let the papers know! I look sadly at the nurses…<\/p>\n