And so I retired
from a work-a-day job, where I
slept through the night, got up with the sun
the rest somewhat measured, and there was fun  

now with no rigid timetable imposed
I am free to read poetry and prose
writing and learning the rules of the word
rhyming or free verse, whatever preferred  

Yet, within this time frame
it is true, I proclaim,  

There are more Doctors and Hospital stays,
scans, blood drawn, and aches with malaise  

Did my exposure to words
possibly take a grave toll
Perhaps ills are about
more than just getting old  

Yesterdays trip to a Nuclear Machine
that took scans of my heart and all in between  

They search for the why
this ticker beats fast
to telltale the reason
so this old heart will last  

The questionnaire had no place to explain
about rattles and chimes that burst into flame  

and exposure to millions of words and phrases
sending hearts travelling through so many mazes  

expressing a feeling or an idea being born
There’s nowhere to write that in a hospital form!  

How I wonder about that Super Sonic Nuclear Machine
How much can it capture, and what does it mean?

It might explain everything
What if they could find
Written within my body divine.

Words that stirred the soul

Verses that make the blood run cold

Rhymes that tear all insides apart

Sonnets that break my fast beating heart