The Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Dance – a poetry jam

By: JANA GREENE

The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone,

but the joint in between them protests.

“Ankle here,” it says. “And I’m wobbly,

I think perhaps you should rest.”

But no time for that, I say, holding on to my cane.

The leg bone’s connected to the knee.

And to say it fairly,

those knees are barely

even attached to me.

The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone,

and true, the bone won’t bend,

but where the thigh bone connects to the hip bone,

that socket pops out and back in.

The hipbone’s connected to the backbone

and they don’t really get along.

Where the backbone’s connected to the neck bone,

it doesn’t feel too strong.

And that neckbone connected to the head,

where all my worries are made,

If dem joints dem joints gonna walk around,

I’ll need a mobility aide.

So, strike a Gumby pose with me,

pop and crack in a stance,

for all the ableist world to see

your Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Dance!