The Body Gives
Sometimes the body gives too much.
A tendon frays, the heart mumbles
and no one sees the damaged parts.
Ignoring pain, we continue climbing ladders,
sandpaper breath rasping the morning light.
Little bits of us crumble all the time,
yet we stumble on, pretending.
Then the body kills us with its enthusiasm.
Cells duplicate wildly, plaque explodes.
This enmity within? Defensive maneuvers.
Working alone, I wonder where I might end.
On the floor. In a field. Atop the bed.
Under the surface of a rippling pond
or drifting with smoke
through a snow-clad afternoon
at eight thousand feet. Among
the grocery’s tomatoes and squash
approaching the end of a long list.
At the bar, glass in hand, or in a truck
at a four-way stop, the radio blaring.
Time enough for speculation, they say.
But I wonder: when I jump,
does the earth always rise to greet me?
* * * *
“The Body Gives” first appeared in The New Reader Magazine, in March 2018.
O at the Edges 
Engaging and entertaining. A haunting reality that is made the more evident now that a new invisible killer walks daily with, upon, or among us. Fabulous listening.
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Thanks very much. It is something that we can’t avoid, no matter how hard we try… 🙂
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Great recording – brings mystery to forefront over depressing realities.
The answer to that final question is NO, but with so many seeming YES repetitions so easy to assume “not now”. I rather prefer to live in the not-now.
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Not now. Not today. I intend to enjoy my time here as much as possible!
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I was gonna say, this sounds magazine-worthy.
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Thanks very much.
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And here I thought I was the only one who thought this way. Thanks for showing me I have company. But you say it so much better than I think it, LOL.
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The earth and I seem to meet all too often!
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I enjoy your readings Robert, and here I feel my head nodding in agreement with your words, and then I wonder why my neck is so sore when I nod in a forward motion…
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Sometimes the body’s gifts aren’t what we want or expect. 🙂
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As much as I mourn my body giving away, immortality in it would be a disaster.
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Oh, I agree!
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