How long have you had this pain?
I find this question exhausting;
It plucks at an exposed nerve
Of frustration in this patient.
Each appointment drags me from rest
To this unanswerable question; when will it end?

How will it end?
Each spiral of pain
Calls for an excessive amount of rest,
Each burning numb moment- exhausting.
I no longer wish to be patient;
The body is a single, impatient nerve.

Which nerve?
One that runs from beginning to end.
Enduring the electromyography, I was patient.
Each shock to an electrode wrung pain
From that body that was particularly exhausting.
Then I went home to rest.

Do you already know the rest?
Can you pinpoint each nerve
That plays a role in this exhausting
Charade that may never end?
When exactly did I become a pain
Patient?

In this waiting room, I feel like the only patient
In turmoil, the rest
Are mothers-to-be who will only know labor pain.
The nerve-
For their happiness to reach my end
Of the waiting room. This anger- exhausting.

If this sounds exhausting
And an impossible task to remain patient-
It is. But I stubbornly persist to the end.
I rest
And pray for deliverance from this nerve
Pain.