fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

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fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

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The Bite

In the springtime, a zombie showed up,
breaking down our door and biting me.

Friends and neighbors asked questions,
not daring to come near,

leaving flowers, candles, baked goods
on our crooked stoop.

I tried to explain his presence
but I had lost my words.

Best to try to live with him
without getting gobbled up completely.

He watched TV with me, preferring
the couch to my cushioned chair.

When I needed help up the stairs,
he held my lame hand,

and lay down next to me on my bed,
resisting the urge to bite again.

And when I would dream, he would push back
each strand of hair that had fallen in my face.

Call for Entries

Pulse Writing Contest

"On Being Different"

Claire Poole is a writer and journalist in Houston. In October 2023, her novel Piano Girl won the annual Writers’ League of Texas’ Manuscript Contest (historical-fiction category). She is currently working on a memoir about her recovery from a stroke.

About the Poem

“I felt like a zombie after I suffered a stroke in 2020. This poem tries to describe what my life was like after my release from the hospital.”

Comments

26 thoughts on “The Bite”

  1. Ronna Edelstein

    Claire, I hope that you are doing well. I also admire your poem with its specific imagery. While your entire poem spoke to me, the final verse moved me to tears. You are a masterful writer.

  2. Merideth Melville

    As always, you are exceptional at putting words to feelings so difficult to express. Congrats on your success!

  3. This is so beautiful, well put! I felt like this after my accident 14 years ago. There are times I still feel a bit like this.

  4. Claire,
    So powerful and deftly told. You’ve managed to convey the eerie strangeness of your experience.
    I continue to be overwhelmed by your strength and courage, my friend.

  5. Martha Doolittle

    So well said. I love this. Thanks for sharing your mind and heart. I did not remember you mentioning a novel – I will be reading that next. Good work my friend.

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