bed soup

a mad woman she is somedays

eyes glued shut

inside a memory

of yesterday's glow

an eternity so close

it hurts her so --

tongue lodged 

against the roof

of the things she

couldn't say --

paralysed in the soup 

that was her bed

when she sank 

in blessed dark

pierced now by knives

of light that taunt 

and jab and tell her

she is captive

slave to the colours

that scream and pound

her weary ears 

hands that fumble

for relief that comes

in packs and pills

the rattle 

sets her teeth on edge

and dares her 

to keep the bile down.

"how's your headache?" 

he said,

"MIGRAINE

isn't just a headache"

she whispers,

thankful she hasn't the strength

to club him till he's dead.

Author's Note

you'll only understand if you've been there

Reviews

[Neville]

Sometimes it is maybe better just to smile and feign sanity... either that or the lump hammer remedy can give a brief respite... maybe...

Made me smile big so ya did.... N

[Lyn Anderson]

Yup. You can relate I am sure. Thank you kindly

[Neville]

pleasure always.. but you know that...

[NoelHC]

Nicely written, I was thinking a lot of other things not realizing it was building the poem to be about a migraine, I have never suffered one, and seldon even get headaches unless I drink a slurpee too fast! This gave me some insight to how it must feel.

[Lyn Anderson]

Thanks. Yes. Not fun. :) nice to see you here

[Kesch (Finding Julia)]

I used to get bad headaches all the time. not so much anymore. Nicely expressed

[Lyn Anderson]

Thanks for commenting

[Robert Trakofler]

My poor sister would frequently get migraines sometimes so bad her nose would bleed I used to feel so sorry for her when it happened I can imagine a similar scene for her. Every tiny noise every speck of light even footsteps would set her off:( I thank the stars this doesn't happen to me! nicely penned....I must say from past experiences I would not be within 50 feet of anyone of whom is suffering from those things!

[Lyn Anderson]

Thanks for taking the time

[Delmar Cooper]

First off, I have had a headache every day for the last forty years or so. But, not migraines. I understand a headache can be debilitating, mine sometimes are, but muscle tension aches are a pond ripple compared to the oceanic tsunami that is a migraine.

The quandary of the poem is "Who that has not suffered can understand suffering?" The suffering is explained in twenty-seven lines of pain, the lack of understanding in two, and the true expression of pain in the final five.

[Lyn Anderson]

Ah yes, thanks. I too was a tension headache sufferer, then the onset of migraines 5 years ago changed my perspective

[LitStar]

wow this is different

it lends to so well, personification of a physical condition that it become sentient

[Lyn Anderson]

Thank you for stopping in.:)

[Paul Bell]

Glad I never suffer from them, though I know someone who does.
Now I'll stop asking how's your headache.
Do all you women carry clubs then.

[Lyn Anderson]

I think it's supposed to be a secret, lol

[Movielum Biloarso]

I can only empathize to the extent any sane man would even want to share the feeling of a migraine he is blesssedly not personally tormented by.

My brother suffered from severe headaches for most of his adult life, and, now, at age 44, he's suddenly seeing a psychiatrist and sleeping through the night. But I'm not saying that would solve your problems--not at all! Psychiatric medication is a separate set of problems all its own.

Your poem is a fine, imaginative study of a significant personal experience that sadly recurs. It reminds me from something I scribbled once: "I already felt a long time ago that I've had more than too much of this. Now, on the hamster wheel of the foreclosure of the possibility of experience, I can only say that I've had more than too much of this." You convey that sentiment very well without using those words. Hence the high grade for your poem.

[Lyn Anderson]

yup. already on the psych med train. hormonally mediated migraines have an end, or so I am told --that was 6 years ago … I really am glad to convey a piece of that feeling -- because a "headache" is only a portion of the total migraine immersion -- I appreciate you stopping in and leaving your thoughts.

[Movielum Biloarso]

Incidentally I'm also a Torontonian! Always glad to support local authors.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

she still remembers who she used to be...she remembers that woman...loathes this one who is bedridden....needs to be taken care of daily...can't move...the lids shut on her life...her world confined...reminds me of what happened to my mom the last months...so sad...
stark imagery here and the dialogue adds much...
j.

[Lyn Anderson]

thank you. pain is the universal leveler, isn't it? when I get in a funk I think about what it would be like to be like that day in and day out, and it scares the hell out of me ...