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Sometimes, my twin feet do not talk to each other.
The left is flat, pale and wrinkled,
like an old, dried-up yellow passion fruit –
but warm to touch.
The right is puffy, ruddy like a cooked beetroot –
but cold to touch,
like a chilled raw eggplant, from heel to toes.
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Sometimes, my feet are identical twins:
so icy to touch, no woollen socks
or massage can warm them.
And yet, deep inside,
a fire rages along every nerve, crackling
sparks I cannot hear or see;
a downpour of rain needles hits every nerve
but cannot extinguish the fire.
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They slowly blush reddish and blotchy
like slow-moving lava
bubbling its way to sea.
When elevated in bed,
the landscape changes:
their visible veins become rivers
deep down in the dark ravines
in sandy terrain.

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Ice and fire:
altered sensations
signalled from a damaged spinal cord.

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© 2015 K-KLokePhD

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 Wrinkled Brown Passion Fruit.
Photo by Till Westermayer from Freiburg, Germany,
CC A-SA 2.0 Generic License. via- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wrinkled_brown_passionfruit.jpg

Preserved Beetroot. Photo by Fae. CC A-SA 3.0 Unported License. via-
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beetroot_preserved.jpg

Eggplant. Photo by Horst Frank. CC A-SA 3.0 Unported License. via- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aubergine.jpg

Ice and Fire. Photo by Boaworm. ” Overview of the 2nd fissure on Fimmvörðuháls, close to Eyjafjallajökull, as the lava flows down towards the north, turning snow into steam. 2-4-2010.”  CCA 3.0 Unported License.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fimmvorduhals_second_fissure_2010_04_02.JPG

Active Lava Flow, Etna. Photo by Romgiovanni at it.wikipedia.
Licensed under the CC A-S A 3.0 Unported license, via
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etna_2006.jpg

River Lakes in Sandy Desert, Australia.
Picture taken by NASA, in public domain. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISS-35_Great_Sandy_Desert_northwestern_Australia.jpg#/media/File:ISS-35_Great_Sandy_Desert_northwestern_Australia.jpg

A Volcanic Eruption in Iceland.
Photo by Ulrich Latzenhofer from Perchtoldsdorf, Österreich.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via –
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vulkanausbruch_Fimmv%C3%B6r%C3%B0uh%C3%A1ls_2010-2.jpg#/media/File:Vulkanausbruch_Fimmv%C3%B6r%C3%B0uh%C3%A1ls_2010-2.jpg

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