Poem: My Back

And then,
one day,
my back went out.
I was 26.

Not totally crippled,
per se,
but my life
had just been changed.

No longer would I
be able to carry
my bride across
the threshold.
Nor carry kids piggy back.
Or swing someone around in a wild hug.
Carefree sex was gone now too,
before I'd really had a crack at it.
And I was glad that I had already
slept on concrete streets,
because that's out now too.

What can one do,
but carry on and change.
I didn't see it coming,
not so soon at least.

But it's a little late
to complain about it now.