Pain Scale

The original pain rating scale was
developed by Dr. Ronald Melzack
and Dr. Warren Torgerson
in 1975 at McGill University

As I was lying in bed just now, prone,
diagnosticating my aches and pains—
alphabetically rather than by degree—
a certain disparity made itself manifest.

I have names for all my physical pains:
migraine, backache, eyestrain, sciatica.
My many emotional and mental pains
tend to get boiled down to: heartache.

Existential angst or emotional suffering
really doesn’t hit the nail on the head.
I mean, when did you ever visit a shrink
and they asked you, just for the hell of it:

“On a scale of one to ten, where one is,
say, mildly irked and ten is traumatised,
tell me where’s your pain sitting today?”
It’s a joke but it’s not a very funny one.