Perspective

time

dragging

like splintered fingernails across the blackboard of my mind

how is it that time seems to grind to a halt

especially when waiting for something important

or whilst enduring some kind of seemingly unending pain

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pain

he said, its my halucination
i asked him to explain
he said walk with me
we walked through the hospital...
he winced and said you see her?
i looked at a very attractive blonde tech in tight fitting scrubs...
yeah, why did you wince
she is in pain
most people dont notice, but i feel it
look at her arms
fading bruises in the shape of big man sized hands...
we keep walking
he winces again
what i ask, what now?
i notice a young guy in a wheelchair out the window
he is unable to walk, an amputee
i say as much
he grins through what looked like more pain than id care to hear about much less experiance
what would you do if you couldnt scratch an itch on the bottom of a foot that hasnt been there for years...
then he takes me up 3 floors...
knowing whats up there, i almost dont let him leave the elevator
three steps into the hallway and he falls to his knees, clutching his stomach as if to disembowel himself through vomiting...
we are a mere 75 feet from the cancer ward...
he is on the floor now, writhing in pain....
i pick him up and carry him to the elevator like a child cradled in my arms even though he out weights me by almost 60lbs
by the time we get to our floor he is standing on his own two feet again
we approach the ward, i unlock the doors
he steps through, turns to me and smiles...
thank you he says
for what i ask
for hearing me
for letting me show you what no one has taken the time to try to understand
and a tear rolls down his cheek
why the tear i ask
he says, i felt the migraine that you have been ignoring for our whole walk and never mentioned... thank you, you didnt have to do that
i know i said, but its what i do
you do it well
and he turned and walked away

we took a few more walks before that misunderstood man passed away...
the dr. couldnt explain it
they found him unconcious on the floor outside of the infant ICU... he died shortly after...
all i could do is cry...

pain?

yeah, unbearable? compared to some not even close

perspective
it has the power to change anything.