I Am....

A poem I wrote about having Lyme Disease after seeing the incredible documentary "Under Our Skin." See it if you can.

I am …
Homage to Anne Waldman, “Fast speaking woman: chants and essays”

I am a tick bite
I am a sore throat
I am fathoms of fatigue
I am desperate
I am IVs every 12 hours for six weeks
I am aching joints
I am T cell poor
I am Clafarin
I am called a nut case
I am a war under the skin
I am a doctor who misdiagnosed
I am unable to sleep
I am a mid-line
I am a heart gone crazy
I am a $175,000 cure
I am scared
I am a red rash
I am a Herkheimer that feels like the flu
I am a silent epidemic
I am a killer
I am sexually transmitted
I am able to fuck with your head
I am a doctor who had Lyme Disease
I am three years of antibiotics
I am a spirochete
I am an infusion clinic
I am a firing squad without rifles
I am everywhere
I am hanging on by a thread
I am a borelia block
I am a syringe
I am an immune system forever damaged
I am Lyme disease
I am lucky you didn’t kill me
I am a survivor

Kay L. Cox
@2009 All rights reserved