Try to accept
\nthis fat red hurt
\nis your starting point,
\nin the way a pen must be put to paper
\nin one particular spot,<\/p>\n
then move<\/p>\n
beyond
\nthe globby flap
\nof blame
\nand past
\nthe mono-sulk
\nof pain.<\/p>\n
Change the subject,
\nbefore it\u2019s too late.
\nSketch out
\nwhat health
\nyou do possess,
\nwhat signal-cascades,
\nwhat flotilla of cells
\ncircumnavigate you,<\/p>\n
then draw yourself back
\ntogether again,
\nin a language
\nof your own.<\/p>\n
Your body\u2019s talk
\nis loose as lymph \u2014
\nit\u2019ll have you open out
\nas a tree,
\nor sneak up on pain
\nas assassin,
\nsidekick,
\nor wolf.<\/p>\n
Encourage this
\nfor healing won\u2019t come at you
\nstraight.
\nEmbrace the lack of heroics \u2014
\nthis isn\u2019t Hollywood,
\nit\u2019s you,
\nin a plot
\nthat may
\nor may not resolve.<\/p>\n
_______________________________________________________<\/p>\n
This poem appears in <\/em>Messenger<\/strong><\/a> (UK edition<\/a>) \u2014 a slim collection of Ducker\u2019s poems exploring \u201chow we wound and how we heal,\u201d drawing on the science of immunology.<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Christy-Ducker-e1613966528832.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/em>Christy Ducker is a poet and teacher of creative writing. Her first full-length collection, <\/em>Skipper,<\/em> was published in 2015, and includes work commended by the Forward Prize judges. Her pamphlet, <\/em>Armour (2011), was a <\/em>PBS Pamphlet Choice.\u00a0Her commissions include residencies with Port of Tyne, English Heritage, and\u00a0York University\u2019s Centre for Immunology and Infection; she is also the director of <\/em>North East Heroes<\/em>, an Arts Council England project.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"