The To Do List

Prioritizing,
second nature exercise
for someone like me.

Challenged stamina
reshuffles the To Do list
for another day.

I may never do
most of my intended tasks.
The list keeps growing.

Keeping Goals

I keep high standards.
I still have not adjusted
to MS limits.

I will start each day
setting high expectations
to reach lofty goals.

Of course I adjust
as challenges do emerge
but won't lose my goals.

Quiet Giving

Such goodness abides
in the generosity
of those who help us.

They make no news splash
and stay in the background
seek no attention.

In quiet giving
pure compassion is displayed,
elevating lives.

I Stop and …

…feel the diffused pain
I try to ignore but which
is spread throughout.

…sense the jangling din
the cacophonous uproar
of nerves on the edge.

…acknowledge the loss
of a gentle easy life
exchanged for illness.

Losing Words

The moment will come.
The right word will escape me.
My mind draws a blank.

Terrifying time.
I won’t know if it’s normal
or MS gone worse.

Straddling the two worlds
between panic and forced calm,
I end up frazzled.

Battle of Our Lives

Until this illness,
courage was never tested
in quite the same way.

Before this happened,
we might not have known fully
just how strong we are.

Bowed but not broken,
we go on to fight battles
to save our lives.

Let's Talk About Something Else - Part 2

Though I have just said
that we should be cheerful please,
I also get sad.

I am guilty, yes.
I traffic in gloom and doom
like everyone.

We all do fall short.
In recognizing this fact,
I’ll cut us some slack.

Let's Talk About Something Else - Part 1

The news make me think
the world is going to hell.
I’d better wise up.

Too many people
and too many arguments.
Can’t we get along?

I cannot believe
the world is so depressing.
Enough of this gloom.

Muff’s MS Quilt

Kaleidoscope Muff
fashioned a quilted cover
whose strength gives comfort.

A thing of beauty
defender and confessor
the quilt is a friend.

Love, tears, and joy
threads join to create a
metaphoric quilt.

How Fast Should I Go?

Afraid of relapse,
should we live on the slow lane
where MS wants us?

Or in good moments,
do we live life to the max
and risk a setback?

I go flat out
and take my lumps later,
but make memories.

Acknowledgement

In these MS blogs,
we may sound quite healthy
and undefeated.

We are masters at
rising to the occasion.
Others might be fooled.

I just want to say,
I recognize the trials
not always revealed.

Strange Bedfellows

The startling, stubborn
individuality
of how MS works.

A custom disease
makes tricky a solution
that will work for all.

Same diagnosis,
despite symptoms that differ,
forces a shared path.

Unmasking

While on this journey
have you not cried or felt fear
once or twice at least?

It surprises me.
My guard will come tumbling down.
I won’t be prepared.

I will recognize
when I feel vulnerable
I have latent fears.

My Inversion Table

I hang upside down
nearly every morning.
It is so much fun.

The board inverts.
The blood rushes to my head.
It is quite a rush.

Exercises done

while inverted keep me fit.
Do they help my brain?

Room for Something New

I swept the cobwebs
peered into the dark corner
of my life’s cupboard.

Found a chipped plate
I had kept because it was
fine Limoges china.

I vowed to myself
to make room for something new
which held real value.

Pet Peeve

Here is a pet peeve.
When people say they are glad
that they got MS.

They are pleased because
it made them better persons.
My blood just curdles.

Are you kidding me?
Was there no better method
to accomplish growth?

Where's My Funny Bone?

I can’t tell a joke.
I can sometimes be witty
but it’s a surprise.

I would love it if
my funny bone showed up
and helped me out.

I am so jealous
of those who make people laugh.
What a gift they give.

Young versus Old Brain

Big difference in
neuroplasticity of
young brain and old brain.

This is no surprise.
Younger brains have greater ease
in rewiring.

Take away message:
keep the brain nimble and fit
however one can.

Should I Not Complain?

Should I not complain?
Others are so much worse off.
And yet I suffer.

I am humbled by
those whose strength of character
triumphs over loss.

Still, what ease I have
does not trump recognizing
I have lost a lot.

What Is Fun for You?

I thought I would ask.
What do you do just for fun?
What helps you relax?

I would sail and dance,
now write poems and stories.
That helps me renew.

It’s not all MS.
I make a point of that
to keep my mind spry.

What I Must Do

I fine tune always
seeking to improve my life.
I may come up short.

Forced to surrender
to the grim reality
control eludes me.

I can’t give up, though.
Only death is too final.
Must keep hope alive.

The Mystery of It All

For millennia,
humans have been attempting
to find clarity.

Who can understand
really, truly comprehend
this thing we call Life?

When I think I Know,
something like MS jars me.
I start all over.

Agora

In classical Greece
people gathered for discourse
in the marketplace.

Act of assembly
served to promote the exchange
of information.

Democracy wins
when free assembly prevails.
Liberty lives on.

What Would I Have Thought?

In a battered trunk,
we found a treasure trove,
decades-old pictures.

Through faded photos,
our younger selves emerged,
restoring lost times.

So I ask myself,
If I’d known then the future,
what would I have thought?

I Can't Believe I Did That

A cognitive slip.
I published a comment and
then saw the mistake.

It did not matter
I proofread it more than once.
Something still slipped through.

I wrote foreword when
I really did mean forehead.
What else have I missed?

Half a Loaf?

Rather ironic.
MS drugs cost a great deal
but may well fall short.

None provide a cure.
Nor do they restore damage.
Just reduce relapse.

What are we to do?
Long suffering MSers
stuck with half a loaf?

Lisa's Community

Brass and Ivory,
a new MS bloggers list.
Lisa’s great service.

Fellow travelers
on unexpected journey
now shared with others.

We owe you, Lisa.
You create a fellowship
so sorely needed.

Tremors, Twitching, and Resolve

My twitchy finger
hit Delete on a comment.
Not my intention.

Communication,
precious and valuable,
I encourage it.

I will take more care
that my tremors don’t delete
your welcomed wisdom.

When the Ground Shifts

It gets confusing
integrating these two worlds,
the old and the new.

The parallel lines
sometimes—surprise—intersect,
the math laws be damned.

Basic laws broken,
what ground rules can one use
in shifting quicksand?

A Real Meeting

Like pen pals of yore,
we’ve come to know each other
through the written word.

Here’s a fantasy.
This circle of cyber friends
actually meets.

From what I read here,
some have gathered already
up in Seattle.

A New Year

I open the door
to new opportunity
to define my life.