ECG

so many things to say
so little time
so hard to get people's attention
so hard to make em listen
you just might be the only seed to read this blog this week
but i am grateful for your time
for checking in
for keeping the art of living alive
because i know ya don't have a lot of free time to play with
that in these turbo-charged times
every minute counts...
fireseed at the docs today
obviously not been eating enough apples
or maybe there haven't been enough days?
been feeling a few ominous twinges in the chest area
what could it signify?
lung problems?
(my good wife suggests tb)
heart disease?
an undiagnosed hereditary condition?
indigestion?
only old geezers suffer from that, don't they?
general overindulgence?
fireseed has put on about a stone since returning to blighty
gluten intolerance?
been overdoing the muesli and home-baked wholewheat bread?
anyways
old dr shastri's stethoscope ain't revealing much
and he ain't at all sure what might be causing the twinges
so as a precautionary measure
he asks me to book in for an electrocardiogram
i strip to my waist
lie down on a couch
with my steel toecaps dangling over the end
grimace while the nurse sticks the cold patches
to my tender midriff
try to avert my eyes as she clips on the electrodes
brace myself for an electric shock
but hear only a rumbling noise from the machine
as it produces a print-out of what my heart is up to
the nurse says we're all done
and i pull my manifesto t back on to regain my dignity
she says the results look normal at first glance
and i've got a resting pulse of just over 60
which is good apparently
i tell her i've just cycled up to the surgery
in my usual last-gasp eleventh-hour full-throttle fashion
she looks mildly impressed
so perhaps there's a bit of life in the old dog yet...