“Goodbye, Walker”
by Peg Nichols
Today my left shoulder
began to complain
about all the work
it has to do.
I never expected shirking
from another body part.
I thought we were all
in the struggle together.
Is this a telegraph message
from left arm to right knee?
Quit depending on me
To push your walker around.
––Despite her wicked pleasure at re-telling the childish antics of a mischievous cousin in Grasshopper Summer, Peg Nichols has a serious side (too serious, B. Chrisman might say).
“Goodbye, Walker” was published in Tallgrass Voices, an anthology of 20 Kansas poets by Hill Song Press. “Goodbye, Walker” first appeared in I Knee-ded It, poetry of preparation for and recovery from knee surgery.
Peg is also the author of Mediation Survivors Handbook (www.mediationhandbook.com), a guidebook for individuals who may become involved in mediation.
We are proud to feature Peg at our upcoming reading August 25, 2011, 6 pm at the Webster House in Kansas City, MO.