We don’t give our bodies enough credit,
for what they have to endure.
Crack a bone and set it just to find:
“Hey, I can walk again.”
Okay, walk is a strong word.
Sure, it’s not the same.
But for all the pain,
and there is a lot of pain,
I get around.
I manage.
You kind of have to persist to live.
I mean what’s the alternative.
I don’t have the courage for suicide,
and I can race you in my wheelchair.
The muscles scream, the bones moan.
But for the time being I’m louder.
So you’ll have to put up with me.
Charl Landsberg is a South African poet, artist, and musician.