Reworded

REWORDED

How are you?
Tiredness and fatigue have me worn and exhausted,
With 20 lb weights tied to each leg, I use every ounce of my vigour to drag on.
I have to conjure up the mental potency before I can get up, stand up, move up.
I feel powerless, dependent, vulnerable.
But I effortlessly respond: “I am alright ”.

How have you been?
Pain has decided to become my constant and promises never to forsake me.
Frustration has volunteered to become my chaperone.
I am consumed with indignation.
I am terrified, worried, broken.
But the metaphrase that is uttered is, “I am fine ”

How are you feeling today?
I feel better than last night but unmerciful knives still stab at the corners of my being
With less force, but the thunderous percussion continues to pound inside my head
I am a tad stronger but I battle the dizziness that threatens to overtake me
I cope and I smile and I do… but I feel tattered.
But nothing else is uttered after, “I feel better ”

Are you ok?
I am fighting
I yearn to escape this prison of torment
Today is not a bad day because I have been through much worse
The soreness that subsides but never disappears is my normalcy
I feel hopeful but I am broken and I am hurting
“I am ok ” is all that escapes my lips.

Do I deceive you?
Do I lack the courage to elucidate?
Is it that the fear of indifference, ignorance and pity cripples my genuineness?
Does my adamant refusal to be perceived as perpetually complaining incarcerate
me within my pride?

Maybe it is that in my thwarted reality,
In the redefinition of my present existence,
The meanings of words …
Have been altered.