{"id":5525,"date":"2026-05-25T14:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T21:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/pastis\/?p=5525"},"modified":"2026-05-30T12:14:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T19:14:39","slug":"festina-lente-a-litany-of-afflictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alteritas.net\/pastis\/festina-lente-a-litany-of-afflictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Festina Lente. A Litany of Afflictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was a diagnosed as a Person with Parkinson’s three years ago, the first definite symptoms going back before COVID.<\/em> Hence this slant take on the Onegin stanza, a particular form of fourteener, that is, a sonnet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sialorrhea, also known
as just plain drooling,
is an egregious symptom, 
though thankfully not as grueling 
as others I\u2019ve got. It gives rise
to what is called, in Grecian guise,
dysphagia, hard swallowing.
Worse is what\u2019s following.
It\u2019s bad enough not to eat 
to have lost your appetite.
But to gag and choke? My plight 
and its inevitable suite
will come down to this:
the throes of death and rigor mortis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dysphonia, evening rasping\u00a0
of the voice, loss of speech,
\u00a0wild klutzy grasping
for objects fallen out of reach
(not to mention thought
not being where it ought)
\u2014let them join a longer list: atonia,
anosmia, ataxia, anomia,
Feeling listless, torpid?
they call it akinesia;
spastic jerks, dyskinesia.
Easy to get morbid.
There are no fictions \u00a0
In this litany of afflictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waiting till the brain fog lifts
is no longer an option.
Meanwhile, as attention drifts,
I seek out every new concoction
Festination, unsteady gait
and fear of falling are my fate.
Whatever traveled up the vagus   
nerve caused this ruckus.
Now the part of my poor brain  
that normally dispenses
 dopamine to calm my senses 
continues inexorably to wane.
A new rule and hope, my first and last:
Festina lente<\/em>. Go slow, not fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a diagnosed as a Person with Parkinson’s three years ago, the first definite symptoms going back before COVID. Hence this slant take on the Onegin stanza, a particular form of fourteener, that is, a sonnet. * Sialorrhea, also knownas just plain drooling,is an egregious symptom, though thankfully not as grueling as others I\u2019ve got. It gives … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Festina Lente. A Litany of Afflictions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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