“Speaking of pain” I said, “in two weeks the plate
in my left arm needs to come out.”
(The surgeon will retrace the original incision
he used to put it in, using the scar to guide him. )
One of the screws pokes through an arm bone into a bone of the wrist.
Doesn’t hurt much now but would down the road, the surgeon told me.
I’ll put up with surgery pain rather than much more pain later.
”There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.”, I told my counselor,
thinking of how hardware cradled my broken bones
while they healed, hardware no longer needed,
best removed to prevent damage.
The plates used to cradle my fractured mind and heart
are not needed anymore. If retained
they’ll cause more pain, weakening me,
for all they used to keep me whole.
The healing held by plates
is stronger than steel.
Best that plates come out,
best trust healed flesh and bone
to be strong, better than new.
The plate in my right arm is benign, damaging nothing.
It can stay where it is, cradling bone that no longer needs cradling.
I’ll ask Dr. Blitzer if I can have the plate
from my left arm
as a souvenir
of an old injury.
~ Wry Welwood
4th of June 2022.
With thanks to my surgeon and therapist.