Driving Ambition - Jerry Hattrick

I’m hard of hearing and bat-blind,
with a stiff arthritic shoulder
and the slow, painful reactions
of some one a great deal older,
not to mention nervous twitching
and persistent chronic itching.
Bits of me are red and swollen,
other bits have ceased to function.
I’m less mobile by a long chalk
than a train stuck at a junction.
While others sing and dance and leap,
I just nod off and fall asleep.
My chest wheezes, my knees wobble
and I get peculiar visions:
voices, disembodied voices,
help me cope with my decisions.
When getting drunk or getting high,
sometimes I think that I can fly.
One leg’s shorter than the other,
my right hand jumps like a lizard.
Just to make me halfway normal,
would, for certain, take a wizard.
Chronic pain with every step, see.
Did I mention, epilepsy?

So to manage these afflictions
I have turned to gin and whiskey
but I take heart medication
so strong alcohol is risky.
Thank God though, life’s still starry,
when I race my red Ferrari.

Jerry Hattrick