BACK TROUBLE

When your back has problems,
everyone's a doctor.
This part of the body seems to invite
the best intentions –
and the greatest contention.
Though your doctor
has prescribed physical therapy,
your Aunt Joan
(who suffered the same problem)
counsels that only chiropractic will cure you.
She's just about converted you,
when your friend Eddie
makes a convincing case for yoga.
Your boyfriend's co-worker
says his doctor ordered total bed rest.
Another well-wisher tells you
you're wasting your time and money
with traditional medicine,
when acupuncture can do it all.
The guy who fixes your computer
shares his saga,
wherein he tries everything
only to end up on the surgeon's table.
You are no longer your usual disbelieving self,
for your pain has drilled holes
in your skepticism,
and your mind is fuzzy
from sleepless nights
and a shelf full of pills.
Who to believe?
I don't know.
I do know that whatever
turns out to be the answer for me,
someday in the future
I, too,
am very likely to be
swearing by it.


© Ellen Azorin