K.S. Lack “Cane”
“Cane” was not an easy piece for me to share. Although I have referenced being ill and disabled before in my work, this was the first time I explicitly brought it to the forefront.
I reluctantly started using canes as walking aids close to three decades ago. I first saw the type of cane described here in the hand of an elegant, middle-aged woman at a swanky Manhattan bistro back in the late 1990s. My husband took down the information about the maker and stored it away for about fifteen years—then had one made for me as a present when I turned 40. It is a wonderful instrument whose stark beauty does not hide how well it fulfills its designated function. It quickly became my “go-to” cane.
People ask me about my cane all the time. I gladly tell them how great it is and how grateful I am to have it. To me, it is proof that I have not let the constraints in my life ruin my lifestyle. Yet it is as much a necessity as all my other canes, no matter how sophisticated it appears.
“Cane” started out as an assignment on Imagism but that is not quite what ended up on the page. In hindsight, the poem is as much about my conflict over owning or being owned by my disability as it is about my cane.
I reluctantly started using canes as walking aids close to three decades ago. I first saw the type of cane described here in the hand of an elegant, middle-aged woman at a swanky Manhattan bistro back in the late 1990s. My husband took down the information about the maker and stored it away for about fifteen years—then had one made for me as a present when I turned 40. It is a wonderful instrument whose stark beauty does not hide how well it fulfills its designated function. It quickly became my “go-to” cane.
People ask me about my cane all the time. I gladly tell them how great it is and how grateful I am to have it. To me, it is proof that I have not let the constraints in my life ruin my lifestyle. Yet it is as much a necessity as all my other canes, no matter how sophisticated it appears.
“Cane” started out as an assignment on Imagism but that is not quite what ended up on the page. In hindsight, the poem is as much about my conflict over owning or being owned by my disability as it is about my cane.