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                         JULIET PAINE

              C.F.S. (for Skye)

                  It's an abbreviation for defeat

                  (or so it seems)

                  strung across bed

                  stretched on rack

                  tortured by nausea

                  of endless fatigue

                  unable even to collect

                  the mail

 

                  He attempts to sleep

                  pop culture has given him

                  everything it has to offer

                  books, CDs, films

                  he's read, listened, watched

                  them all

                  condensed fifty years consumption

                  into five spent tired, numb

                  and desperate

 

                  Blood tests and specialists

                  homeopathic cures

                  he's tried them all

                  the only cure is rest

                  and patience

                  for next upswing

                  of clock hand

 

                  Except his sentence isn't

                  measured in minutes,

                  hours, days

                  rather months, years

                  spent barred into a bedroom

                  by a pulled blind

                  a shut door

                  a weak immune system

 

                  wrapped in sweaty sheets

                  of his own frustration