The medical metaphors:
swan's neck deformity,
that supple, arched grace mocked
in knuckles' backward bend
and fingers' rise-ulnar drift,
right hand set to the right, left
to the left? hands and wrists
rifting from solid continents of arms.
Hip joints sawed off,
replaced with curved metal
sheaths and plastic knobs-shaped
like Arabian daggers, blades
pounded into leg bones, handles
glued to plastic sockets-ending
the wheelchair year, giving back
a block or two of shuffle-walking
Immune system coursing out of control:
body marching against itself,
attacking living lubricant in joints,
gnawing at bone ends,
leaving? stiffness and exhaustion-
at times breaking through
to deeper territory, grinding down
concentration and thought
