A Tap On My Shoulder

She is relentless.
She never knocks, never calls out
“Hello, anybody home?”
Her arrival is unscheduled and
she delights in tapping me on my shoulder
at times of her convenience, not mine.
Turning under the cool sheet in the
darkness of early morning, I find just
the right sleeping position.  Tap.
Yesterday, while driving on a busy
boulevard to an appointment.
Tap.  In the grocery store line, reaching
down for basket items to stack on
the moving, black conveyor best.  Tap.
Inconsiderate, annoying Pain.

To befriend Pain takes courage.
To fight her, my natural choice, fires her
fury and the cost is high.
I’ve never been pursued with
such dogged determination.  I cannot
run fast enough to avoid the
echo of her laughter and
the wound of her breath.
Not anymore.

Not anymore.