While I’m feeling better today, I’m still not 100 percent. I seem to have entered the postdrome phase of my migraine—often called a “migraine hangover.” The symptoms usually include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, head tenderness, and mood changes.
For me, I think of it as a shadow headache. The headache is still there, just not as intense—like it’s hiding in the background. I also tend to get brain fog during this phase, when thoughts and movements feel slower than usual, as if everything is happening a half-step behind.
That being said, I’m going to skip a poetry post this week. I’m just not up to writing one right now. I have class preparations and meetings today, and while I wish I could stay home another day to recover, tomorrow I’m out for my first appointment with my new neurologist at the Headache Clinic. Then it’s right back into things with a class first thing Friday morning.
Sometimes listening to your body means easing up where you can—and this week, poetry will have to wait.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
January 21st, 2026 at 6:02 am
Joe, you were right to post two in succession. Two beauties. And today’s is uncut? Is he really American?
January 21st, 2026 at 6:07 am
He probably isn’t American, though there are some Americans who don’t believe in circumcision. They tend to be either poorer or first generation immigrants. I wish doctors would quit pushing for circumcision. I personally believe it’s a barbaric practice that mutilates infant boys.
January 21st, 2026 at 6:49 am
Joe, most of Europe would support your view. The Scandinavians are wholly set against it (apart for medical necessity). The Germans even passed a law to ban it but were forced to retract after huge pressure from the Jewish and Muslim communities.
January 21st, 2026 at 6:58 am
In the US, John Harvey Kellogg, the health reformer and inventor of Corn Flakes, strongly promoted male circumcision, not for hygiene but as a drastic measure to prevent masturbation in boys. A lot of his “healthy living” beliefs have made it into and became standards in American culture.
January 21st, 2026 at 7:27 am
I discovered Kellog years ago and had some difficulty in believing the truth, but it is all true. Was it effective though? Something tells me that powerful urges require ingenuity to get round a problem – like using vaseline or lube!!
January 21st, 2026 at 8:59 am
I’ve been the same way for days. This huge ice and snow storm hitting middle TN is killing me.
Wish I had him to comfort me in bed! 😝