Thank you for reading my poem and for your intuitive comment - I'm not on the internet much but would enjoy your input and help in creating a sonnet out of this piece. I agree "Life Sentence" does need some restructuring - I always seem to write in quartets and it has been about ten years since I first wrote it. It's time to refine.

Even though most people with FM, MS, etc. "look good" on the outside most people have no idea what we are dealing with "on the inside".  Most people think we are "airheads" because the pain demands attention and makes it hard to think. Many people think we are "lazy" because we are exhausted from dealing with the pain and its side effects.

Dealing with pain and the physical, mental and emotional distractions the pain causes takes a lot of courage, energy and concentration. It is my intention in this piece to show how people who live in pain are "working" all the time with no hope of relief - and yet, we keep on going. We choose to live against the odds in a reality most cannot imagine. "Life Sentence" is like a war memorial honoring the truth of my situation.

I won't change the ending because in reality the pain doesn't go away and that would deny the truth and courage of people who choose life every day despite the pain:)