Structural Integrity

The rug caught the edge of my heel

and the world tilted three degrees.

I dropped the laundry like a stone

and went down hard on my knees.

But it’s the joint below that’s screaming,

a pop that felt like breaking glass.

Now the sock is tight and straining

as the blue-purple shadows pass

under the skin. Just another debt

my body is calling in today.

I’ll be limping through the morning shift

with nothing left to say.