Feeling No Pain
FEBRUARY 1976
JAMES SCHUYLER
FEELING NO PAIN
Bless the ear doc,
the tetracycline and
the nameless ear
drops: three drops
three times a day.
A bus comes down
Second Avenue and I
hear it stereo. Dining
with Joe at Duff's
last night, I had
to keep my head turned,
right ear pointed at
his gentle murmur.
"'Anisette?" the waiter
asked me when he brought
me coffee. I didn't
hear him: he was on
my left side where
the ear was blocked
and ached. An infected
ear: the pain, there's
nothing like it. You
climb walls. Then you
climb down, get into
bed and try to read.
"T guess these medications
take time." Is it time
for more ear drops,
another pill? Not by
a long shot. Will I
ever sleep again, deep
natural sleep? It's
five a.m. The coffee
drips. Early traffic.
It used to bug me. Now
it's welcome as a
dance by Drigo.
I have a hacking
morning cough from
all those cigarettes
I smoked those sleep-
less nights. Well,
nobody's perfect and
I feel no pain.
Structure
47 lines · 5 stanzas