Marie Kane
WHAT NOT TO SAY TO ME NOW THAT I AM CRIPPLED*
Try not to tell me to take your time when holding the door; if I could lag
behind by choice, I would (sluggishness is not an option with MS)
and I do appreciate that my sometimes
blind left eye discerns your kind face ignoring my conspicuous left foot
drop, and that do good is your mantra, but refrain from suggesting
that my walking will improve
if I comply with these cures: having a hysterectomy, or its opposite—
pregnancy, enduring the repeated sting of honeybees, or the
sipping of Aloe Vera juice at a bank-account-emptying spa
at Versailles—any of which ought to turn my question mark spine into
an exclamation point. Should I ask for a bathroom never, ever tell
me that I can wait. And for the life of me,
when I relate recent successes, don't cry out "Good for you!" (as if I
were five and had just learned how to tie my shoes) —when I walk,
stand, or stay awake ("Good for you!") —
or drive my car to physical therapy ("Good for you!") —or shower by
myself ("Good for you!") —publish a book of poetry, ("Good
for you!") drop nothing that day ("Good for you!")—and
when you spy me on my motorized scooter, don't saunter by and claim
sotto voce to my husband, "I need that more than she does,"
nor should you whisper that your mother, father, sibling,
neighbor died of MS, then tell me that I look Fantastic! Delightful!
Splendid! Your flood of words insists that I am a marvel; my
doctors say I am doing well, considering.
Marie Kane is the 2006 Bucks County Poet Laureate whose work is
published in the Bellevue
Literary Review, U.S. 1 Worksheets and, Wordgathering, the Schuylkill
Valley Journal, and the Meadowland Review, among others. Kane was diagnosed with MS in 1991. Her book Survivors i
in the Garden recently published by Big Table Publishing, is nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She has received a recognition
award for her poetry from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, and two Pushcart Prize nominations in 2010 and 2011.
Her blog on poetry may be seen at http://mariekanepoetry.com/ |