Bruce Bamber
Life in a Hamstring
‘I can feel it now all along here’,
says the physio as he drives his thumbs
into my hamstring. ‘Quite a lot of injuries’,
he says, ‘Can you feel them?’
(I can feel them) ‘They build up you know,
scar tissue, it doesn’t disperse naturally’.
(All too mortal. All clotted blood and flesh)
‘We’ll have to work on this, it might hurt’.
(It hurts) ‘The muscles around,
they lose flexibility, become more vulnerable
until one day - ’ (One day what?
All crumpled and twisted?)
‘I’ve had some people in tears’. (I can believe it,
I had no idea my legs could remember so much)
‘Calcium deposits’. (Safe deposits.
What limit on my account?)
‘It would be nice for it all to be smooth and relaxed’.
(Too close to unforgiving ground
On my unforgetful legs).
(It still hurts).
Page(s) 5
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