Hard to Ignore

It starts sharp – a stab of a needle
Or a painful shout, a command without words.
Angry muscles demanding you stop:
Pointless really (the show must go on)
Yet persistent and powerful.
Hard to ignore, so you adjust your weight
As best you can and grimace through
Until you can collapse in victory: finished.
In a way, anyway. The sharp pains end.
The high of endorphins sees you home to bed
In relative comfort (exhaustion alone)
Until the next day. Then, the dullness begins.
The throbbing ache in your bones –
A lingering numbness with teeth that stays and stays
Until the story starts over again.