joints swollen
jaw to ankles affected
at times; anaemia tossed in

audible creaks in limbs
flare-ups hot to the touch
fluid drained, cortisone shot into
not an aging football player's knees
nor a senior's elbow, but a teen’s on
a night down and out
to recuperate from treatment

always someone (parents, doctors) after you
for bloodwork, x-rays, follow-ups, diet, side effects
hours of clinics, missing school, missing youth
jilted by the games you loved -
your framed photo and plaque
on permanent display in the high school awards case

Junior M.V.P. girls' soccer team Grade 10
now just to climb the stairs
in mornings, a feat

jars
jolts
pain in-
juries, endured
jump not for Joy - junior athlete
& black belt; whose joy of piano forte’s
gone too

dance and theater artiste
jovial early climber from your crib
jack of various sports and arts
jolly jumper and gymnastics queen

proud Master of side and front splits
for Tae-Kwon Do & jazz & tap
(you immersed yourself from heart)
all passions you pleaded to pursue

but then that sudden
initial shock of one knee, began
in just a child of sixteen then
jostled you into jeopardy;
gypped you of all those sports you loved
and energy to stay
in your theater program

you call your body
a weather diviner

and claim it's your pain and trial
not ours, but yours
as if it's something
to be fought for possession of, but
what parent could feel that dividing line?
There's a wince in watching too, you know

newborns through teens and on
are getting hit - more rampantly than ever
the specialists at CHEO* told us
and with no hints before the disease invades

now orange juice and an alarming pill
(designed for cancer first)
have been your Friday night 'treat'
for almost a year and a half

and while we long deliberated
on that precarious recourse
God put me on the same drug
by his mysterious design - to test it out
in my mind?

It won you (us) remission
but the aches (and dread disease)re-start
as you approach your twenties
make new encounters

dream of your future life
walk and climb
your campus streets and steps
hope for undamp days

J.A. (it sounds too soft)
Jailor-Attacker of youth
tainting golden years

Un-gentle acronym
Juvenile Arthritis
Justice, where are you
just now?

07/15/2000

Author's Note: * Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (Rheumatology Clinic - a superb unit of support)

Posted on 10/28/2004
Copyright © 2024 Maureen Glaude