shark bite

a visitor asks how i got the long scar down my back

“shark bite”, i say, amused at their face agasp,

before explaining my surgery to them

some people don’t deserve your story,

but some REALLY don’t deserve 

to be “protected” from your experiences. 

so i wear open backed shirts when i want

and no longer hide myself for others’ comfort.

when i presented 8 years after surgery

with persistent single-sided shoulder pain

many doctors didn’t believe the 

pain was related to scoliosis.

but how would they know it’s not related to

scoliosis if they didn’t know what caused the pain or my scoliosis? 

i wonder if a man would be more carefully listened to

medical misogyny is real, and some doctors do have blinders on.

i voluntarily go for medical procedures to 

try to identify the cause of the pain

i’m zapped on my arms, and they find nothing

from my own research, i believe my pain is 

caused by an issue in the neck in vertebrae 

that connect to the arms.

i finally get an x-ray, showing mild arthritis 

or disc degeneration in the neck

no surprise to me

i let my shark bite speak for itself

i rock my scar.

i was hiding in a shell for so long

now look at me, world! i survived the shark!