What Are You? 

You can hide in the deep, burning recesses of the mind 
Where, in sad, tortured corners only you can find relief 
From that spinal abbreviation: the termination of feeling at a known, painful, Point in time. 
The moment your chord, put to the sword, terminated its cerebral relationship. 
Cells, isolated from feeling the hells of daily living. 
Leaving a condition that you once referred to as legless. 


Comical now, for the holy cow was once the subject of your derision:  
The wheelchair. 
Enough to cause a loss of hair at the thought of its accompaniment 
To your lair, it is now your friend. 
What an end, eh? 
Once certain all future plans had come to fruition, 
You are now left with so few inhibitions, 
Courtesy of care, of course. 


Six long months of hospitalisation and you’re fit to lead a nation; 
To defend it from the indignation of the nursing process and medical care, 
Where disbelief that pain can emanate from muscles no longer used to gyrate
Is expounded with nauseating frequency. 
From occupational therapy, where your: ‘Is this really what you expect of me?’ 
Is met with incredulity in a professional face. 


But if you’re not dead, be grateful, not hateful. 
Relate, with love in your voice, to those saviours of your life: 
The Para’s, Accident Unit and Intensive Care. 
They are all there in the final reckoning. 
And think not of vengeance against those who, askance, 
Glanced down at your smitten torso on that fateful evening.


Believing, that’s what you need. 
Faith in yourself, a body fresh from the shelf, 
No longer a splintered, sad shell of your former self. 
It’s the only way to love each day and play a normal part in the Art of Life. 
Thank those who stood beside you, 
As the good ghost recovery made its way through the long, dark night. 


Until finally, the light shines brightly from your eyes 
And glows warmly in the words emanating from your lips. 
You give tips to waiters and to those who seek advice: 
'Excuses, lies and deceit, will not help feet feel a golden beach’. 
Gentle words, spoken with dignity and forethought, 
For you are not who you were, but what you are now.