Deirdre Neilen, PhD: Jan Hanson's first chapbook, "I'll Never Play the Hammered Dulcimer," was published in 2019 by Finishing Line Press. Her poem "The Non-Verbal Pain Scale" is an excellent reminder to health care professionals to please take time when asking patients to describe their pain.
"The Non-Verbal Pain Scale"
Inside it's killing me.
The throbbing in my neck
goes all the way down my left arm
to the tip of my ring finger.
I have to prove my pain to them -- the nurse
and the doctor who breeze into my curtained space.
They can't see it; only I can feel it
I writhe and sigh and groan and move around
stand up sit down wince grimace
this is what pain looks like
but I can't say how it feels,
just a nine or a ten or a hundred
the round-circle faces on the wall chart
smiling all the way to the one with
mouth turned down and eyebrows slanted
how to tell if your patient is in pain
look at my face you will see
they poke at my pain
does it hurt here at all does it hurt
here here here yes yes yes
just make it stop, drugs are good
but if I smile they won't
believe my pain