Make It Stop

Bloody vomit, bloody stools,
Aches corkscrewing the torso—

If the ongoing cycles
Of relentless physical

Discomfort and suffering
Have anything in common

With the corrosive traumas
Internalized as heartbreak

And grief, it’s the marathon
Aspect, the marathon after

The marathon, the forced march,
On and on. It keeps going

Past all usefulness for pain
Past all pleas to make its stop.