It astonishes me
that I no longer have a bad back.
In my twenties
and into my thirties
I felt stabs
and stresses
and found weeks
where it was difficult
to stand as men do.

I first caught Bad Back
by carrying a heavy box
while giving a pretty filly
a piggyback ride.
Some years later
I biked an incline to aggressively
and in my midlife years
I lifted some tiles
tiny stone pieces
that laid me low.

Since then
I have suffered no strains
experienced no pains
have walked with no canes,
it’s all been good.
I have grown fatter
than ever before
found my musculature poorly defined.
I am twice the man I used to be
but my back seems not to know it.
For a decade now
it’s all been good.

This is the kind of thing
that when you put it into words
the universe
suddenly takes it as a challenge
isn’t it?

What have I done?