/dysautonomia/
every day, on every inch of me, it pours.
ice cold water drips down my limbs,
tracing every tendon, licking every nerve.
hip to knee to ankle to toe, and back again–
i’ve memorized every highway of hurt.
the fog permeates my skull;
swirling eddies scramble my thoughts.
wearily I stumble; dazed, deoxygenated,
desperate for a life long lost.
somewhere in between, there is the river;
the churning, lawless land of my stomach.
foaming, sputtering, sizzling, convulsing;
the water remains in motion
Kate Koplow is an essayist and poet from Concord, Massachusetts. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, as she finishes up her degree in Comparative Literature at Occidental College. Kate is most interested in writing about chronic illness, mental health, and philosophy.
Powerful words