Tuesday, April 12, 2016

HOW ARE WE TODAY —IMPROMPTU FOUND POEM # 12

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Today, Found Poetry Review would have us: "Collect found language from individuals who articulate how they feel, specifically, in their bodies…physical symptoms in the body (neck, head, stomach, feet, etc). Use at least 20 different posts from different speakers. Modify, arrange, modify."

This has me pondering whether I should go to some of my Facebook friends' posts—I know who they are—and crib some of their ailments. Maybe I will, and maybe I won't. I can probably just go to any old health-related site and scroll down the comments. Away I go. 

And...an hour and a half later, after moving these statements around a little, cleaning up syntax and making them into couplets, I present:

HOW ARE WE TODAY

Terrible vertigo today.
I am trying not to Dr. Google.

I am hooked up to things,
waiting for test results.

Not a long enough incubation time 
for common cold, pneumonia or staph.

My achey sore body giving me grief—
it's hard to sleep at night as my whole body aches.

PTSD dreams; waking up with bad anxiety—
took meds early in the hopes they will help.

Got a prescription for naproxen for my knee;
a lot of snot coming out.

The hard part isn't drinking 32 ounces,
it's trying not to pee afterwards.

When I get done with a healthcare visit,
feel like a piece of processed food leaving the cannery.

Sliced open down the middle like I was,
they drew blood.

Groin pain and enlarged lymph nodes still there,
and today my neck glands are slightly swollen.

A large lump I can feel 
feels like a a swollen tonsil.

I stress for days about going to the doctor.
They want us all on drugs.

Feeling frustrated and irritated tonight.
I think I do not have cancer. 




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