I bruised my shin a week ago
getting into the car, though
I still have no idea how.
It isn’t the regular kind —
all greens and purples,
tender to the touch —
but the deep result
of microfractures from
unexpected trauma,
and the doctor says it will
hurt the same amount as if
I had broken my leg.
I’ve only ever broken one bone:
my tailbone during my son’s birth.
It still hurts sometimes when I
walk too far or wear heels
for more than a few hours.
I think maybe it healed
more than a little crooked.
I wonder if my leg will look
different on the inside after
all this is regrown and reformed,
if it’ll be stronger at the weak point
or if it’ll just be the same as always.
This was written as part of National Poetry Writing Month 2021, sparked by Jesse Miksic’s triomyth prompt; my third random Wikipedia article was about the Journal of Mundane Behavior, a now-defunct peer-reviewed sociology publication.