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Iron Lung

for Roy Richard Gray 1922-1953

Andrew Leggett

It’s been a long day at the mill and I’m tired,
but I think of the kids and swallow my pride.
I pull off my boots. Feet are needles and pins.
My low back aches and my ribs are lead.
Something’s not right, but I let it slide.
I’m feverish as I lie by your side

I wake in the night with a throbbing head.
My neck is stiff and I can’t move my legs.
The walls are too close and dark’s closing in.
The air seems foul and I struggle to breathe.
I retch and I’m sick all over the sheets.
I cause you to wake to my shame and my dread.

It’s a two hour drive to the hospital.
You shake with tears at the wheel.
I struggle to breathe by your side
and I’m overcome by fear.
When the doctor says it’s polio,
into the iron lung I slide.

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