Subluxation

I enter the office in my pajamas,
under the weather and undeterred.
My chiropractor, swift spirited,
usually smiling, crosses the dividing
curtain into the Body room, where
my body slumps over the table.
An "adjust-mint" slides around
beneath my tongue.

He quickly assured me that, yes,
I've pinched some nerves over
the years, but that it's time to let
some of the pain go. He held me
expertly, and with a sudden spasm
my spine crunched like a bag of
kettle chips.  

Oh man, he says, how were you
living with that? Genuinely, it
seemed, even knowing he says that
to everybody. I had grown used
to pain, an ache long absorbed,
and indeed, I felt better. But
when he said, Now you'll
start to feel happy,

I nearly burst with laughter.