Poem, just a poem on psoriatic arthritis

HMF
HMF Member Posts: 9
edited 21. Mar 2025, 10:39 in Let's Move

Finger Up


She’s got her swollen middle finger 

Extended, she can’t bend it back

Into her palm, because it hurts too much,

And stiff,

And she doesn’t know why

She’s been afflicted with a disease

Called psoriatic arthritis 

She doesn’t think she deserves 

This tortured path,

This throbbing red mess

Is so annoying 

And sometimes she cries 

It’s so painful.


Then they tell her 

That the good stuff is in the safe

Waiting for a drug company commercial 

To suck her into the screen

If she asks her doctor 

About some unpronounceable 

Drug that has superpowers 

But also can drain her dry

Via diarrhea, slander, heaves,

Soul stripping, rashes

Bankruptcy proceedings.


Chat lines encourage her

To carry on, persist

Her path will soon change 

The fork in the road

Will soon see its prongs 

Melt away, replaced by a flower,

Blooming, red, velvety 


She’s scared, but carries on

“Sore” iatic she jests 

Hoping that next time 

When she has a blood test

And they ask her to make a fist 

Before drilling her vein,

She doesn’t give the operator

The finger.

Tagged:

Comments

  • olivia_b
    olivia_b Moderator Posts: 88

    Thank you for sharing your poem with us @HMF, we love using creativity as an outlet. Please continue to share more with us.

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • HMF
    HMF Member Posts: 9

    People like to tell me I’m better,

    After they ask me,

    And I say, a little.

    I guess I’m scared,

    To say too much,

    Fearing that the future

    May not be full with as much,

    Promise as I would like.

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,241

    You only say a little better to make the asker feel better though don't you?

    Sending ((())) and great poems @HMF

    Toni x

  • creAte
    creAte Member Posts: 39
    edited 6. Dec 2024, 22:27

    @HMF

    HMF for Hello Me Fine

    HMF for Hi Marvellously Fantastic

    HMF for Hopeful Moments Forever

    HMF for Here Move Forward

    HMF for Ha! Me Friendly :))) ;)))

    OoOops

    HMF for How many Fingers?

  • HMF
    HMF Member Posts: 9

    Great HMF poem, thanks!

  • HMF
    HMF Member Posts: 9

    No one’s immune

    From sadness or pain,

    I’ll try to remember that

    Again and again

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 30,241

    Love the little ditty @HMF

    Brilliant!

    Thanks for posting.

    Toni x

  • MRach321
    MRach321 Member Posts: 3

    Heres my poem as a sufferer of ps arthritis- adapted

    Dawn breaks like an army attack

    ranks upon shivering ranks of grey

    Is it that i am dying?

    Is the monotony of my pain destined to last forever?

    Did i choose this dull ache that has bled all its colour and left me a washed out being?

    My hope has leaked and formed a cracked soul

    A thunder cloud closing in,

    Threatening the innocent

    My GD how long will it take?

  • MRach321
    MRach321 Member Posts: 3

    and another!

    This pain is elusive, its brave, its strong and hard

    never wavering or contemplating

    never letting go

    Its around every corner, stalking me

    Skulking behind every bend,

    surprising me at every opportunity,

    Is the body so fickle it trots after the minds decisions submissively?

    Does He moan in pain with me?

    Does He clench His fist in agony like mine?

    Does He smile when i try?

    It kills not to know- to wonder

    to try believe

    the unknown

  • PeterJ
    PeterJ Administrator Posts: 1,013

    Hello @MRach321 and welcome. Thanks for the above poems, very good. If you need any help just ask a question in a new discussion.

    Best wishes

    Peter

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • HMF
    HMF Member Posts: 9

    A more hopeful poem morning. I play a game called ball hockey, which is like ice hockey but played in the gym with a felt based puck and only shoes on your fee, not skates!


    Scored 


    “Last goal wins”

    Words emitted by AC,

    We were miserably losing

    No defence,

    Panting, gasping, 

    Our goalie solid 

    But the other goalie- impenetrable.


    I was calm 

    Fingers gripping the stick lightly 

    In minimal pain

    A far cry from  three months previous 

    Where flames shot out from 

    My fingertips 

    Touching, minimal contact 

    Would elicit howling

    Reddened joints squeezing the life

    Out of me. 

    Sorryatic arthritis zapping my soul.


    Suddenly the puck 

    Is at mid court 

    And I’m relatively alone,

    The gym turns quiet 

    I am staring down the net 

    I see an empty corner

    Not protected by the fully padded goalie,

    All night he’s been stopping everything 

    No thoughts, all feelings,

    I grip, 

    Let rip,

    A primal grunt emanating 

    From my lips,

    There’s an extra force,

    A few kilos more of effort,

    In this last ditch shot at redemption.


    And I am enclosed by a cloud

    Unconscious 

    As I watch the puck sail into the net

    And the nonexistent red light

    Ignites,

    And the game is over,

    And I better be grateful 

    But I want my last two painful fingers 

    To cease crying.

    But I am grateful 

    For the medicines which have shifted 

    My life 

    From miserable 

    To much much more tolerable. Thanks Taltz.

  • Poppyjane
    Poppyjane Moderator Posts: 897

    Great poem . You are brave to be playing hockey!

    Poppyjane

    If it would be helpful to talk to someone ring the Helpline 0800 5200 520

    Monday - Friday 9.00a.m. - 6.00p.m.

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