painfulwisdom

Just a Feeling I Get

By Laura McCollough Moss

I'd like to quantify

this pain for you

on a scale of one to ten

it's not so much a pain

as an ache

oh, not an ache but a

sensation

all down my arms

 across my chest

where someone has been

taken away

never to hold

again

what kind of remedy

 not a job for

non-steroidal anti-inflammatories

acetaminophen won't touch it

narcotics wouldn't make a dent

I've tried red wine

which when overdone

only helps the tears to flow

 then the ache stops being dull

 throbs

and my fingers tingle

grasping for

a memory.