Twas the night before my operation whilst eating my meal,
in a moment it hit me and it seemed all too real,
my Plate, it sat empty, hard, white and cold,
while my kin heaped theirs high with colors so bold.

I looked in envy, at their dishes of food so tender,
hunger overtook me in the presence of such splendor.
I was not allowed to eat even the smallest little crumb,
all because of a doctor with rules that I found dumb.

In mere hours she would draw near with her knife,
with scratches and stabs she would soon change my life.
As much as I longed for this wrong to be righted,
in the presence of hunger my choice seemed shortsighted.

My left leg was a whole two inches longer than my right,
every day I awoke with an ever growing limp I must fight.
my hips became crooked, and and ‘S’ became of my spine,
how could everything be caused by something so benign.

Now only hours from pain I laid half awake in my bed,
my thoughts and anxieties rolled around within my head.
Oh, how I longed for this to have all been prevented,
instead I lay in sleepless anguish alone and demented.

The morning came hours later after a long sleepless night,
and the alarm although pleasant did not soothe my fright.
Forbidden was any source of food or of water,
I felt like a poor animal being prepped for my slaughter.

I dragged myself out to my mom’s warm waiting car,
I looked down to my leg where there would soon be a scar.
How I hated the thoughts of terror that filled up my head,
so I turned up the radio and blared music instead.

as we approached the medical mile, sitting up on her hill,
pulling into ramp three I was struck by sudden a chill.
In a moment it hit me and it seemed all too real,
my life would change drastically today. How would I deal?

With a groan and a creak up to floor three the elevator rose
I trod over the skywalk with frustration I wished not to disclose.
A nurse came to greet us and led us quickly to our ward,
Propped up in my sterile bed waiting I soon became bored.

After hour long moments came the doctor’s expected approach.
While a needle pierced my skin and my vien it did encroach.
With the I.V. in place, and cool saline solution flowing,
my angst to end this nightmarish process was evergrowing.

Laid back flat on my clean cot they briskly rolled me away
saying goodbye to my mother, I was no longer so gay.
Tears stained my cheeks leaving behind their cold salty trails,
the beeping of a thousand monitors hid my shrill silent wails.

The room was so cold, and I could feel my frigid hairs raise,
silver lights hung above, and nurses doled out their trivial praise.
then came the milky white substance that would end my awareness
I counted down from ten, yet reached only five in all fairness.

 I awoke after hours that had passed in only mere seconds,
yet sleep still called out and I followed her sweet beckons.
The doctors worked hard to keep my pain under control,
nonetheless I could feel the spasms with every fiber of my soul.

Regardless of the terror the the surgeon had to offer,
she also had a new and better life which to me she did proffer.
My legs are now equal with the left one matching the right.
I know I have made the right choice regardless of my height.