Bum to bum

This is how a marriage ends – hip pain,
knee pain, cracked rib, bulging disc,
raging Piriformis, TMJ, insane
ibuprofen promises, hernia  dismissed.

This is how a marriage ends – numb foot,
Achilles strain, a crappy IT band
drones a dirge, trudges on, a broken brute.
Poor Quasimodo – now we understand.

This is how a marriage ends – bum to bum
in bed – because the hip hurts, the rib hurts.
Change sides, rearrange, take a pill – alack!
Fast twitch, slow twitch, sleep’s a bitch, rolling grunts –

sleep tight. NSAIDS or aspirin? Shriveled
liver, heart attack? Self-medicate?
Prescribe? Querulous damn bedeviled
ligaments, Gordian knots attenuate
we pray. Pound my Psoas –  YES!  right there!
Try to love in pain, prithee body, please repair.