I found these in my favorites.

I think I've mentioned before that I have Lyme Disease, and that it causes swelling around my joints, particularly in my back. In the last 6 hours, my back went from being just fine - I could feel my spine all the way up and down - to being completely swollen. I could feel it change, and I felt like crying. I've been using ice packs for hours trying to bring the swelling down. This is putting a cramp in my schoolwork/school/work/life.

I feel like an old building breaking down. From the moment of birth, our bodies begin to decay. I'll be 24 next month - almost two years of Lyme Disease.






























lyme is an ignored word it's not worrying, to the doctors;
that grinding of your thumb into your hand
like a nervous tick, the shifting
from foot to less swollen foot. fear burning
like the hot steering wheel massaging your palm
bringing pain to relieve pain; temporary
scars on the lifeline, swollen:
back, hands, feet, knees. brain
bugs crawling in imaginary directions
aching to get out
stretch
move, dance
like you feel human. a small thing,
parasite, darkness, just
a day on skin still twenty-three,
even if twenty-three is a struggle like eighty. Abandoned House Warped old bones, bowed knees curve
to age and nature's way of breaking down
everything that's been built up;
arthritic old body, aching with the
cold and sleepy with the heat – still here.
Grayed and bleary-eyed, windows
battered by storm, mind collecting dust
and tidbits of all of the lives lived here.
A little extra creak here and there, that's it –
maybe an extra creak from the roof as it sags
with its own weight, like a man who's seen
too much of the wrong thing. But timeless,
not like a classic car or an old movie but china
cabinet trinkets played with by grandchildren
who never really forget. Every year, some


    




I hope you've enjoyed the features! I love all of these wonderful artists!
Yes, I do realize I began and ended this feature with my own art, but I made this feature to try to make myself feel better, and it kind of worked (emotionally, not physically). So I just hope to share the love.