An untreated childhood horseback riding accident is the root of my daily pain, now exasperated by age and general living. Your poem was truthful, Joao.

Pain is a constant companion. Treatments or meds may provide a small amount of temporary relief but nothing evicts pain completely or permanently. For me, the old, predictable pains are manageable like a cantankerous relative you have to accept. It’s the new ones that take root like a voluntary rose bush, pushing thorns deep in my flesh, tormenting nerves overlooked by the old pains, that are the true torture, reminding me that not one piece of my body is exempt from attack.

You spoke well for all of us who live with the intruder of constant pain.