The People Who Feel No Pain

I let our daughter read a news story about one who walked months
                  on a broken pelvis before she noticed it
crunching inside her like dry leaves.

And I can hear L. now
                  practicing in the kitchen, holding her hands under water hot
as she can stand it, singing softly: I don’t care I don’t care I don’t care.

When asked to define happiness half the room will
describe a quality of light, the sky required to feel right.

For a while we …