My Knee And Me, a Musical Freewrite

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The knee is a troublesome body part
as much trouble
as the tip of a tongue

It speaks when it hasn't been spoken to
and gives way
as easily as a thumb

"Arthitis" says the orthopedist
"Edema" spake my PT
"Sprain" pronounced the chiropractor
"Ouch!" to all says my knee

I'd much rather be singing!
Full breath, full heart, full lungs
If only the chorus director would stop saying
"Stand up!" "Flop over!" and
"Do it again!"

I'm an alto, number two, also troublesome.
But when told, I flopped over, and hit an F!
I forgot my knee,
I forgot myself
What fun!


This is my entry to @mariannewest's freewrite challenge https://steempeak.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-744-5-minute-freewrite-sunday-prompt-knee

I seem to be a day behind. But here it is, a freewrite poem, a thing I have not done in a long time. Too long! I love freewrite poetry - something very essential has to give.

I set my timer, as usual, for 4:30, then allowed myself as much time as I wanted to proofread but not edit.

I wrote this directly after chorus rehearsal tonight.
Thank you for reading!

Image is by David Schwartz


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55 comments
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Great poem.

I love the way you personified your knee, and particularly these lines:

It speaks when it hasn't been spoken to and gives way as easily as a thumb

Describes that frustrating instance when your body betrays you. I know this feeling also... If I had to put it poetically I might say:

I wake at night, my gut screams like a baby on the monitor, distant yet immediate, and full of bile... In need of burping 🤣

My sympathy goes out to you @owasco, it's crap living with bodily incapacities that limit quality of life. But it sounds like you have found a wonderful outlet in singing 👍

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Thank you kind sir! I never know with my poetry if the meaning is clear, but you've gotten it beautifully.
Try drinking some sauerkraut juice. It always works for me.

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Raj beat me to it - that was one of my my favorite lines too.
You're too young, Raj, to be so well versed in the langauge of pain!
I wish you well, all of you at Freewritehouse who are unwell, and it seems writers finally stopped dying off of tuberculosis only to have a whole new slew of maladies to keep them home, writing. *sigh
Be well! And if you can't be well, laugh with @owasco and @raj808 as they articulate our aches and pains.

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I flopped over, and hit an F!
I can relate, but mine is my right, pointer finger. Seems nobody is sure, but last guy said probably arthritis :(

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Better than a thumb! When a thumb hurts, you can do nothing with the whole hand. Maybe the pointer is the same thoug. I have tried so many things these past two months, to no avail, but next I will be trying dried pokeweed berries, no more than two a day for ten days. I have 22 of them drying right now.

I thought of you today! And put you on my list to visit tomorrow, for real! So I am especially delighted that you have dropped by.

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Amazing how that happens :)
Never heard of pokeweed berries, but perhaps I'll look into those too. You're probably right that the thumb would be worse and I'm afraid the knee is probably worse than both :/ I've started to just hold it up and use the others.
I remember one of my good friends' Mexican grandmother used to swear by rum-soaked raisins.

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Which Pokeweed are we talking about?!
Several berries of this one causes: pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea:
Or is this just in dogs?

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The forager/healer who told us this said if you look it up you will find they are poisonous. He cautioned that two and only two berries a day for a max of ten days. They should be dried, then best if chewn but, since they taste nasty, you may grind them and put the dust in a capsule. He swore they helped a 90 year old woman who had been crippled for many years. I'm also doing alternating homeopathic remedies (3 days rhus tox, 3 days ruta grav) and CBD in and out. Essential oils did not work.

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I can see how essential oils would not work on this chronic complaint. I can see how the homeopathic remedies are a fair bet. I am interested to hear more about your feelings on how the CBD is working for this specific condition. I hope to hear more from you even after your having experimented with the berries! (You and I both know that "poisonous" is a very state-regulated word on the whole, and on the other hand how one naturally may gravitate towards poisons in nature for a healing friend.) Good luck! My blessings for improvements to you.

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Thank you!
Oh those berries ARE poisonous in larger amounts, like most medicinals.
I'll figure this out, because I am sure not going to hobble around for the rest of my life - I am proud of how graceful and strong I am for a woman of my age! This has hit me in my sorest spot - my physical vanity. Maybe a post for NM is in order when I conquer this.
My primary care physician (he's really good and non-invasive) who is also a medical marijuana physician told me the CBD would not work. I feel better though, and at present I am only doing CBD and homeopathy. I try not to do too much at once so that in the end I know what worked.
Thanks for the blessings!

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I am here for the invisible music in each syllable ♡

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Very sweet comment! Thank you!

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ha, and I thought I was the only one 😅

I have heard that the knee is a really bad design (by nature) and that we should perhaps wait a couple of million years before we get an update. But I think we won't wait that long (and perhaps we'll take care of the mind as well which is always bothering us by getting rid of ourselves first ... 😐

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I've heard that too about the knee being of poor design and I agree!
A recent visit to an orthopedist (for a diagnosis only) made it clear that those guys are not doing our knees any good either. Thanks for stopping in!

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hmm :(( are you doing yoga, tai chi...? that might help

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I hope to start tai chi when I recover from this - I will LOVE that. Yoga does not float my boat (blech to being on time for classes), although as an ex-dancer, I do a lot of yoga-like exercise on my own. I'd been trying to increase the my knee strength and flexibility and probably screwed something up in the process.

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Now that made a whole lot of sense and a fun poem to read @owasco hope that knee treats you better next time round.

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Thank you! Both knees have been a sporadic source of trouble for nearly four decades, but this time really downed me good.

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Nicely written @owasco!
Painful body parts are definitely no fun. The only good that's ever come of old injuries for me is the fact that I'm somewhat of a meteorologist now. I know when the rain is coming.. 😄
I wonder if you had a specific genre in your mind while writing this?
I experienced a bluesy ragtime vibe while reading.

Keep up the great work!
@tipu curate

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Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 15/20)

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And you really know when bad weather is coming? I had a spell a couple weeks ago when it was so bad I went into a state of despair, which is very unusual for me. I even asked for help, also very unusual. But back to the weather - it was very rainy that whole week and someone suggested that was why my pain had increased. Now the skies have been clear (except for geoengineered clouds that I notice now more at night!) and I feel better. hm

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I thought I commented on this much earlier, but here goes again. I've only recently been producing poems that are sing song and rhyme, so I have to say no, no genre in mind at all. I like the ragtime blues idea though. Maybe I was writing lyrics unintentionally, having just come from chorus. "Learn to write songs" is on my bucket list but boy oh boy who has time for that on top of everything else? I have too many hobbies, and now I'm hobbling around too.

THANK YOU!!!

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My knee has been moaning since my bike accident in 1980 my friend and now my body calls it a cry baby Lol.
Maybe you should just start to sing flopped over and change your songs to suit the F? Hahaha
On a serious note such an injury is certainly annoying and painful.
And the doctors never seem to help much.
Blessings!

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I've tried a lot, but my next thing will be to chew two dried pokeweed berries a day for 10 days. Apparently, that cures arthritis for good.

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Well good luck with the pokeweed cherries and I really hope and pray that it works for you my friend.
Blessings!

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Wonderful prose, @owasco! The troublesome body part thing really "struck a chord" with me - my official diagnosis a few years back was "Internal Derangement of the Knee." 😂

I hope it behaves for future rehearsals, and that there are no more sour notes in store. 😊

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A doctor diagnosed you with that?! What does that even mean? Your knee is insane? Was it an orthopedist? That sounds much much worse than arthritis.

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Yep, first the Urgent Care doc said it was what he suspected, and it was confirmed by a followup visit to an orthopedic doctor. My understanding of it is that it's a general term that means something's messed up, but they don't know how or why. In my case, I was walking perfectly fine one moment, then I took a step and my right knee was suddenly on fire and I couldn't put any weight on that leg. I have arthritis too, and I can't say that either of them are any fun... 😜

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That sounds like my experience! One day both knees were very stiff, the next day one was super painful. I couldn't walk for weeks. I elevate constantly, because edema is a factor for me. For an inexpensive attempt at a possible fix, get some homeopathic remedies rhus toxicodendron and ruta graveolens. I'm using 30 c doses, but whatever your health food store or pharmacy sells. Do three days of ruta grav, then three days of rhus. (meaning put 2 or 3 pellets under your tongue in the morning). and repeat. I swear this is working for me, especially on the rhus days. I'm also taking CBD. The doctors are deranged, not your knee. If this doesn't do it for me, I'm going to try pokeweed berries.

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Ugh, so sorry to hear that you're dealing with something similar, @owasco. I'm long overdue for a trip to our local health food store, so I'll add those remedies to my list for when I get there. I've also been using CBD oil and it's been beneficial in controlling my Essential Tremor to a degree. I've heard wonderful things about pokeweed berries, but haven't given them a try yet. Much appreciate the information!

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What a delightful piece! I hope your knee isn't bad!

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Both my knees give me grief now and then, this one has been worse than the other times but it is getting better. Thanks!

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You must be borrowing my knee!

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Bummer. So many people have this problem! And the docs just want to shoot us up with cortisone every time "arthritis acts up", no attempt is made to correct the condition. Very frustrating!
I'm going to beat this though - I'll make a post about it when I get it conquered.

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I'd love to hear you sing one day @owasco, maybe a dtube video? 🤞

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I tried to do that for that guy with the song prompt contest you turned me onto - whatever happened to him? (can't remember his name at present) and spent hours trying to follow his detailed instructions about how to upload a dtube video. I can't remember where I got stuck. One of these days.... So much to learn how to do in this place!

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Great poem, and you're a fellow alto!!! Woo hoo!!!

I can relate with the knee, as my right knee has been making itself known of late, and I no longer even have goats headbutting me out of the blue.

Ah well, all the more reason to actually get back into qi gong, for real, instead of just talking about it.

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I'll be joining you when I can!
I love singing in a chorus. I'm new at it, and had to audition for this one, making this audition the first singing audition I ever passed. It's surely a growth opportunity.

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I haven't sung in a chorus since I was a kid. I don't even know if there are any near me, but it definitely sounds like fun.

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(Edited)

I had both my knees fixed with ACL surgery. They took a piece of my hamstring and looped it around it to "fasten my knees on!" Dr. Kahn was the best surgeon in the state, he did all the football players knees at UH! OMG it was the best decision I ever made to get them fixed early!! Had it done many years ago and only messed it up once when I ran into a whale bodyboarding, but it snapped back after doing some tricks I learned on youtube!

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I forgot my knee,
I forgot myself
What fun!

The beauty of art...music, writing, painting...we do forget ourselves, don't we? That is the only way to go, particularly with a knee that nobody can really fix :)

Very nicely done.

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You've beaten me to getting over to you!

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