Time stands still as it passes us by
parallel lives
wondering why
wait and watch
get to know
rehabilitation moves so slow
sweating, shaking, holding time
in trembling hands
pages align
unglued
the muse
falters and flashes
adhesion brings ashes
stifles the spark
breathe
glow
struggle to know
adjusting the pace
wasn’t a waste
resigned, refined
a new design
today, tomorrow
tainted with sorrow
blessed by hope
alive!
~slk–

As I assembled the work for A Round Now In A Square Time I was forced to revisit the phases and stages of my own physical rehabilitation. The internet has the power to be an incredible rehabilation tool for conditions which leave the patient isolated from society. Parallel lives meet in the support groups there. They share resources and frustrations. They grieve in empathy for the time that was and the now that is. Together they inspire enough hope for tomorrow because there is strength in numbers. The internet links us to the outside world while we virtually live within the confines of adhesive arachnoiditis. Until we adapt and find a way to live independently in real time we are forced to survive vicariously and at the mercy of the people around us.
Active members of Life With Arachnoiditsand Arachnoiditis Society For Awareness and Prevention kept me in touch with virtual humanity while I was re-defining my physical presence in the world.