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19.1. Icy Rain on Back

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On my back,
an icy cold rain
needles my tight skin, and
penetrates into my nerves.

Sharp, thin ice blades
slice deep underneath the scapula,
like repeated plunges of a sharp knife.
Burning blood flows along the spine
down to the lower back.

Invisible, but felt,
intensely,
deep underneath my numb skin.

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© 2015 K-KLokePhD

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19.2   Pin Cushion Chest

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Even leaning my back against
very soft memory foam
on top of the soft cushion
of the wheelchair backrest
is still like lying on a shrapnel-filled mattress.

It brings referred pain onto my chest:
gradually becoming
a pin cushion overcrowded with
millions of fine needles.

Gentle strokes become raking
millions of needles into my chest.
Movements of my shoulders and arms
drive them deeper;
Coughing sends them into a dance, frantic,
across the chest,
up and down the sternum;
all pricking at hypersensitive nerves,
bringing intense pain.

Sit still. Relax.
Breathe in and out slowly,
till the raking, driving, dancing, pricking subside.
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© 2015 K-KLokePhD

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Freezing Rain Needles. Photo by Laslovarga.
CC A-S A 3.0 Unported License, via – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freezing_Rain_in_Canada_2013_91.JPG

Thin, translucent, bladed calcites with flourite. Photo by Rob Lavinsky / iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CCA-SA 3.0 Unported License, via –
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Calcite-Fluorite-cflo38b.jpg

Flower of Pincushion Hakea Laurina in Bonbeach, Victoria, Australia.
Photo by Ian Fieggen. CC BY-SA 3.0 License, via –
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20070521_Pincushion_Hakea_Flower.jpg#/
media/File:20070521_Pincushion_Hakea_Flower.jpg
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