A shareable version for those who have asked.
"BITS OF ME"
"They" separate my body from my aching, broken heart.
Dividing my complexity into manageable parts
They amputate my mind from my body and declare
That there's no obvious reason for the symptoms that I bear
They search my cells, my immune profile,
They study all my genes
They use their centrifugal force to examine and to clean
My diet gets such scrutiny, eat more! Eat less, they cry
Whilst someone else thinks differently, eat less, eat none, here's why!
More protein, but less fat, and don't forget to count the carbs
The food police are out there wearing scrubs and medical garb.
You need an audiologist, a stroke clinician too, call diabetic medicine and the asthma guys should do
A little quick assessment and
neurology as well
If the liver docs could join us then that would just be swell.
We will divide and conquer your body bit by bit
Your mind is not important, we have to get you fit
Call in the physio team and then let's photograph your eyes
You are on the list for counselling, 2 years wait, that's no surprise.
Somehow in between this endless list of tests and consultations
I am a human being, a whole person with emotions.
I'm left to join the dots up when they finish their disection
Left as a single body trying to go in all directions
Trying to please them all and to tick each empty box
Feeling that I am between a hard place and a rock.
We need holistic attitudes that see us as a whole
Not multiple demands with completely different goals.
Society will do it too
Treating us like machines
Removing human contacts
It's progress! But it seems
The opposite.
I'm tired of it, oh turn the clock back please
And try to find our way back to appreciating trees
And birdsong and all nature and step 'backwards' into peace
And wholeness and completeness, let separation cease
For we are all interconnected, but we've somehow lost our way
And we seem to get more separate and lost with each new day.
Karen Holmes
7.9.23
