Falling has a different meaning
between me and you.

I hit the ground
get back up
keep going.
It doesn’t even phase me.

You hit the ground
You don’t get up,
thats it for you
your day is over.
You look to me morosely
with pain and helplessness.

Fear courses through your body
that you will collapse again
unable to hold the weight you carry.
As the strong ruler we love
being brought down by a masked plague.

They say a broken rib
X-Rays say no
They say arthritis
Medicine says no
They say its just age.

There’s a lump spreading inside you
and they can’t find the simple problem
that seems obvious to check
for a woman your age.
Choosing not to test for it.

Seven months later they find the lump
Saying its too far along
Saying there isn’t any cures -
only potential treatments that will
allow you to stay with us a little longer.
We ask why they didn’t check for it sooner
and they reply
that they didn’t think of it.

Enraged we leave limited by their fatal failures
searching for a solution, a cure.
Trying what we can to have
one more day.