[writing] NoPoWriMo Poem #4

Pain.

The body betrays us
by not being what we expect.
The elderly know this. Pain
and failure, the weakness of
flesh - truths that they lie
in bed with every night, their
cartilage and fluid and tendon
all moaning into the dark, their
mind still wondering where ease
went.

Even young, we are
betrayed - the snap of bone,
the fleeting reel of balance, blood
pooling beneath the skin. A stranger
with a knife takes away your surety,
breaches your last defense and leaves
you lying in a hospital, unable
to forgive. Trust is gone, your
blinders ripped away, the utter
fragility of the world laid
bare before you.