Breath & Shadow

Fiddling With Pain by Joyce Frohn

The fiddler rosins up his bow,

long fingers curl around a block of blood

He plays a scale upon my nerves.

Always rising, never falling.

Fingering first here, then there.

Now a toe, now a knee.

Bow rubbing, scraping.

Now I feel it on my back

Reaching for my neck.

When the bow enters my skull,

Will I know the tune

Or will I become the tune?

Joyce Frohn has been a professional writer intermittently for more than ten years. The times she hasn't been writing she's been an exit poll taker, nursing home worker and a few odder jobs. She's fought depression with some success for as long as she can remember and has been making other people put up with her Attention-deficit Disorder for as long as they can remember.

Joyce has a husband who would like her to make money so he can have a chance to be a stay-at-home Dad, and a five-year-old daughter who is already dictating stories to her.