Homage to My Radiated Hip
I am finally kind to my broken body
when she pops her hip, limps her leg.
I do not shout down my spine
but coo and coax like a loving mother
who bends to kiss the scraped knee.
Held tendons and muscles soften,
“My hip, my health,” watercolor on paper by Laura E. Garrard.
quelch their sobs, wipe their eyes.
I push less, soothe with balm
and soak pain in salty water
to lithe what has been burned.
To lithe what has been burned
I soak pain in salty water,
push less, soothe with balm,
quelch my sobs, wipe my eyes.
Held tendons and muscles soften,
bend to kiss the scraped knee,
coo and coax like a loving mother.
I do not shout down my spine
when she pops her hip, limps her leg.
I am finally kind to my broken body.
©️ 2025 Laura E. Garrard
This poem was first published in Bellevue Literary Review as a finalist in their 2025 Poetry Prize and also now appears in Laura E. Garrard’s debut book, Paddling the Sweet Spot Between Life and Death. Laura E. Garrard is a Pushcart Prize nominee who is a multiple myeloma thriver living in the Northwest.