Poetry Corner: I know I am winning

I guess it's some comfort that, if I had any pretensions whatsoever, this stuff would not appear. Anywhere. But I am free of all pretension. I'm barely half awake today (the only state in which it is possible to compose verse of this standard), but there's nothing like the progress of a bloody rotten cold to teach you that, all things considered, you are winning, after all. But it is still a bloody rotten cold, thus the altogether melodramatic climax of the piece.


I know I am winning.

I know I am winning because I am alive
The only line to follow being “I will survive.”
Gloria in Excelis Gaynor, Hallejulah and Hooray!
I know I am winning - at least I am today.

I know I am winning because I am awake
Are you conscious of the difference that consciousness can make?
I know who I am, where I am and roughly why
(In between the periods when such things go awry).

I know I am winning because I have a voice
It might be stronger and much clearer, if I should have the choice
But even if my only words were written on a screen
At least I’d have block capitals to signify my SCREAM.

I know I am winning because I can move
Doesn’t matter how far or fast it is, how accurate or smooth.
My body will do approximately anything I choose,
It’s something that I’ve got right now and something I could lose.

I know that I am winning because I can heal,
I’ve never died of anything, however bad I feel.
And even if I’m tired and sore and somewhat out of breath
I ducked and dived and stayed alive and got one over death.