My “D U I”

Driving under the influence?

No, nothing like that, rather,

Discomfort, unease, inconvenience,

Let me tell you the facts.

Discomfort, unease, inconvenience,

This is my “D U I”

 And, if you had my experience

You would probably cry.

You may want to argue

That these three are synonyms

But the subtle shades of meaning

Is what I shall be highlighting.

In terms of cause and effect

Each comes out of the other,

This I observed just recently

When dealing with a matter.

It was one that I created

Since I was feeling rather fit

And while running up some steps

I inadvertently slipped.

It was a horrible experience

One I will never forget

But there were consolations too,

Not all of it was regret.

At first I could not stand

My foot wouldn’t bear my weight,

I thought it had been broken…

O what an awful state!

Fortunately, it was not so

But the pain was quite intense,

Then, a minor slip…

And now a major offense.

So by now you surely know

The cause of my “D U I”,

I should have walked instead run

You must have heard me sigh.

  

Now there is acute discomfort

Walking has become a struggle,

And this is only just one-third

Of my overall trouble.

One-third is the unease

In achieving the simple things,

Those everyday normal practices

That our daily living brings.

One-third is the inconvenience

 Of heavily depending on others,

Inconveniencing those around me

Only makes me a bother,

Discomfort, unease, inconvenience,

Not driving under the influence,

This is the “D U I” of mine

That threatens to make me a nuisance.

Stewart Russell (c) August 2019