I Woke Up

by Thomas Redoubt

. . . this morning in the same body

I went to sleep in last night.

I am sure it was the same body

Image credit: Francisco Andreotti on Unsplash

because it had on

the same pajamas I put on

every night before going to bed.

But it doesn't feel like it

fits as well as it did before. 

Some parts are sagging,

especially under my eyes and chin

and on my arms and chest and rear end.

Other parts are just too tight,

like around my waist

and thighs and ankles.

And it doesn't respond

as quickly as it used to.

I tell it to do something,

like sit up and get out of bed,

and it just lies there.

And when I can finally

get it to do what I tell it,

it doesn't work as well, either.

It slowly goes

from one position to another,

from one place to another,

from one thing to another at its own speed

regardless of how fast I tell it to go.

And just about everything

is too heavy for it to lift now!

And pain!

This body never used give me any pain!

Now, just about every part of it

complains every time I tell it

to move or do something.

The body I remember

having last night

before going to bed

was lean and taut,

fast and quick,

smooth and strong,

just about as good a body

as anybody has ever had.

Now look at me!

You'd think I got old or something!

And all I did

was close my eyes for a little while!

***

Thomas Redoubt

Thomas Redoubt is from Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small town on the Ohio River north-west of Pittsburgh and now lives in Allison Park, Pennsylvania. He was trained in science and law spent the first half of his non-literary career as a materials science researcher and the second half as a lawyer and law school adjunct professor. Redoubt has a passion for writing poetry and sees poetry as the epitome of one person to communicate his/her thoughts and feelings to another.