Dragonfly's Poetry & Prolixity: Preparing for a New Knee

Friday, August 10, 2018

Preparing for a New Knee

Budda admiring his pink Zinnia.

I love Zinnias, easily grown from seed.

Reading a favorite author, Flannery O'Connor.

For weeks, red wove itself into my life: leaves, flowers, cardinals, Mars, the moon, a red apple in the middle of an empty parking lot, a red balloon, red cars, red... Renewed desire...

Red leaf in July? Unheard of! Or a sign...

~×~×~×~×~

I'll be out of commission for a while because I'm getting a total left knee replacement next week, thank God. The pain is unbearable, so it's time.

The state of pain management in Louisiana is now a big joke, so I'm more than a little frightened of more needless suffering. If you suffer from chronic pain, you're just fucked, to put it simply. After I recover, a new left hip to match will be next and then I'll be dancing on tables again!

I will accept all prayers/good thoughts sent my way. Thank you all...

xo,

Marion

"You don’t know pain until you’re staring at yourself in the mirror with tears streaming down your face and you’re begging yourself to just hold on and be strong."

"Chronic pain shatters productive lives. Chronic pain almost always is accompanied by depression, anxiety, frustration, fatigue, isolation, and lowered self-esteem."

5 comments:

Kelly said...: You can count on my prayers, Marion.... as well as those from my "Daughters of the King" group. What day is your surgery?

Chronic pain is no joke. A real bummer.; August 10, 2018 at 5:02 PM
PhilipH said...: Marion, do so hope the pain in your left knee will soon change to great relief and deep joy when replaced by a brand new knee. Pain drags one into such dark caves of depression and despair. When the torture is stopped, the blissful relief is beyond description. I wish you all the very best for a swift and successful operation. Philip H.; August 11, 2018 at 3:23 AM
Marion said...: Thank you, Kelly. It's on the 15th. I appreciate you! xo

Philip, you are so right. Have had chronic back/knee/hip pain for many years. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you! xo; August 11, 2018 at 10:08 AM
Terra said...: I do hope your new knee will be a blessing for you, and you can carry on with your plan to be dancing in future.; August 17, 2018 at 5:44 PM
Jonathan Chant said...: All good wishes to you, Marion. Wishing you a fast recovery.; August 19, 2018 at 2:44 PM

I Love Lorrie Moore!!

“You’re not a poetess, I hope,” said the English geologist next to her. “We had a poetess here last month, and things got a bit dodgy here for the rest of us.”

“Really.” After the soup, there was risotto with squid ink.

“Yes. She kept referring to insects as ‘God’s typos’ and then she kept us all after dinner one evening so she could read from her poems, which seemed to consist primarily of the repeating line ‘the hairy kiwi of his balls.’”

From: “Birds of America” by Lorrie Moore, page 266, ‘Terrific Mother’

Miranda July's Best Book:

"Do you have doubts about life? Are you unsure if it is worth the trouble? Look at the sky: that is for you. Look at each person's face as you pass on the street: those faces are for you. And the street itself, and the ground under the street, and the ball of fire underneath the ground: all these things are for you. They are as much for you as they are for other people. Remember this when you wake up in the morning and think you have nothing. Stand up and face the east. Now praise the sky and praise the light within each person under the sky. It's okay to be unsure. But praise, praise, praise." From: "No One Belongs Here More Than You Stories by Miranda July", Page 11

A Dreamy, Drug of a Book

"The minute you land in New Orleans, something wet and dark leaps on you and starts humping you like a swamp dog in heat, and the only way to get that aspect of New Orleans off you is to eat it off. That means beignets and crayfish bisque and jambalaya, it means shrimp remoulade, pecan pie and red beans with rice, it means elegant pompano au papillote, funky file z'herbes, and raw oysters by the dozen, it means grillades for breakfast, a po' boy with chowchow at bedtime, and tubs of gumbo in between. It is not unusual for a visitor to the city to gain fifteen pounds in a week---yet the alternative is a whole lot worse. If you don't eat night and day, if you don't constantly funnel the indigenous flavors into your bloodstream, then the mystery beast will go right on humping you, and you will feel its sordid presence rubbing against you long after you have left town." ~Tom Robbins, "Jitterbug Perfume", page 240