Ran into a tough opponent the other day. Took a header. I hit the pavement and it knocked me cold. Disfigured my face. An entire crew of firemen pulled up in full regalia, ladder engine included, had a look and got me a deluxe ambulance ride to the emergency room, plus a brainscan, a 24-hour overnight on a hospital gurney—the place was fully booked—and a bunch of stitches by a well-meaning young doc. Now home, condition improving, I got to thinking of Edward Dahlberg’s Can These Bones Live.
Another way to look at my little adventure:
I kept of thinking of “The Invisible Man” as played by Claude Rains. Maybe the role should have gone to Peter Lorre. Kindhearted sensitive people often suffer life-altering, destructive events, but are not the better for it. REcover – maybe don’t, until you next pick up yer typewriter/keyboard quill.
Thanks. I have since updated my little intro for the sake of clarity. Or not.
good news is that they didn’t keep you after brain scan. heal swiftly and knock 2020 out of the park!
yes, that was good news. what is left of my brain apparently wasn’t bleeding. KOing 2020 will take a helluva lot of doing. thanks for the good wishes.
What lengths some people will go to for poetic inspiration…but delighted to hear your Obit is still waiting.
Poets ARE foolish, as your friend Asa said.
Jan, In the end, it was the thingness of things and not the death of the bones, for which all of your friends and fans are grateful. Rest up and take time to heal – and respect that body that kept you here. I find after a fall, I just kinda ache all over from my tense moment of a realization “this is gonna hurt” – just before hitting the pavement. Be good to yous.
Much thanks for your thoughts, Suzi. You “get” it. It turns out that some things ARE actually spectacular, like the look I saw on the faces of the spectators when I came to. They seemed to be watching a horror show, and I was the horror. That’s when I realized the header I took was more than just an inconvenience. Ouch.