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In all the workings of the beautiful form
Our bodies take in all their variety
One never ceases to be struck with wonder
At why the system might avoid propriety.
It mobilises its garrisons at even the slightest hint
Of an external attack from microbes in rows
The assumption made that it will register its own men
And spare them the wrath meted out upon its foes.
Ask then the man with synovium battered and bruised
What enemy is being defended against here?
Ask then the pained woman with joints eroded
Why her own form makes her shed that tear.
Outside oppression is softened by a sympathetic ear
Eager to share in our pain and to care
The internal struggles are harder to bear
With sympathy wearing thin, friendly faces so rare.
In their support then we work and strive
Lending help to those struggling on in their daily pain
It’s in their comfort that we find our inner drive
Knowing full well that our efforts are never in vain.
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Yusuf, M.A. A sympathetic struggle. Rheumatol Int 35, 1445 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3233-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-015-3233-1