Five Hematoma Deep

image by Glenn Buttkus

 Five Hematoma Deep

“One can find so many pains when the rain

is falling.”--John Steinbeck

It was a sparkling

Spring day. all fresh cut grass,

and squirrels playing tag.

Contrails from a jet speck

put white ruts in a ceylon sky.

I strolled out onto our deck.

Our family pooch, Taffy,

had passed months before.

Her old dog house

was still in the corner.

There was a handmade wooden sign,

carved by my youngest daughter,

nailed to it--TAFFY.

I decided to take a picture

of it for posterity.

I stepped back, and framed the shot.

Just as I snapped it,

a weak board I was standing on

broke, and my right leg

crashed down into the hole,

all the way to the thigh.

The gash was only as wide

as the 2X4 that had broken.

My leg was much wider.

It was jammed and stuck

in the smashed wood

and tiny orifice.

There was no one around,

so I tugged at it with all my strength.

Finally it came loose as tendons

and wood shards screamed.

The thigh muscle had a several inch wide divot

in it. It felt like a hungry troll was

gnawing on it.

An hour later, at the ER,

we found no wound, just contusion

and severe bruising. Unfortunately

what was unseen was the five

levels of hematoma lurking

below the skin. The next day

it became a profuse bleeding wound.

I set up shop at a wound clinic

for the next several months.

Finally I had to wear a wound pump

for a long week. It took seven months

to heal. The only positive thing

that came out of it was we built

a stronger, more modern covered deck,

and we enjoy it often.

I carry

a half inch 

permanent divot

to remind me 

of the ordeal.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub