Champions

Early rising

Start off exercising,

Then, time to go pay those bills.

Wife wishes me a “great day”

I don’t know quite what to say…

So, I just swallow my big handful of pills.

Meds not quite working

legs are still jerking

when I get to my job.

Coworkers take it in stride.

I go away and hide.

But do they think I’m some kind of snob?

Toes tapping,

feel like napping,

dyskinesias¹ starting to show.

Trying to speak,

But I feel SO weak

and bradykinesia² is making me slow.

Eventually my body starts working

no longer hiding and lurking

it’s time to get things done!

NOW is the time for that meeting!

Hurry, “on- times³” are fleeting!

So energized, I practically run!

But sooner or later, (usually more sooner than late)

No matter how diligently I medicate,

my energy levels will wane.

Walking gets choppy,

talking gets sloppy

my body begins to complain.

Inconsistencies, at times amusing

maddeningly confusing,

create quite the stipulation

for the conditions of my employment

are not just for my enjoyment

Do I already need Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)⁴?

On the way home,

feel alone.

These symptoms get tiring to explain.

Family needs a dad,

but I spent all the energy I had,

do I deserve to feel this shame?

On the couch,

why such a grouch?

Damn you Parkinson’s!

If people only had insight,

into how everything is such a fight,

they’d say:

“People with Parkinson’s must be a champions, 

just to make it through the day!”