Pain does it well

pure pain

manifesting as dull ache

growing into a throbbing,pinching,needling nag

tearing you up into bits and pieces

not yet ‘a patient etherized’ upon the evening table

not yet numb to the depravities of pain

but prone to convulsions

involuntary smirks and quirks

sudden outpourings of old philosophies

rehashed wisdom

bits of pop songs

doomsday predictions

listless looking

grumpy-ness

wearing ‘ you don’t know it until you have it’

stamp on your creased forehead.

Its something peculiar to pain in aging

as opposed to pain in childhood

when you simply dusted your back

and walked off limping

smile intact.

Pain while aging

is different, stronger, more lasting

in teaching you who you are

in helping you cast away a few illusions

in showing you your true friends, if any

in brutal honesty

in singular lack of sympathy

in self loathing apathy

in the hard hitting realization of

get up and get going

or you are for god’s sake

never going to get up!

Pain omniscient, omnipotent

its the greatest of all levelers

and much more.