I don't have phantom limb pain, but I have had moderately severe sciatica & back pain as a result of 2 disc prolapses in my mid 40s. Symptoms range from no sensation, to numbness, pins and needles, random cramps that wake me up, and just plain pain. It's probably getting worse, but for the moment I can manage largely without painkillers, and while slow, I can still walk (just don't ask me to run!)

The worst consequence is a lack of proprioception - I used to do a lot of rock scrambling, but being unable to feel you feet or even know if they are level. I managed the walk up Kata Tjuta quite happily, not fussed when the scree moved from under my feet a bit - it's a bit like aquaplaning, you just go with it until you grip again. But the 500 step climb up King's Canyon was beyond me - I made about 50 of these rough hewn irregular steps - a minor stumble did not put me off but a more major one decided me, because I was not judging the height of the steps with my foot. I still have a bruised toenail from that one. No matter, I got down again safely and did the riverbed walk instead.

I was sitting contemplating putting my socks on one morning when I was feeling a bit like my leg was a phantom, just as Juliet's presence is a phantom to me. You know what the real thing feels like, and you'd be overjoyed to put up with the pain if what missing could be returned.

Rhyme ABBCAC with an unrhymed 7th line. The poem took very little time to write. Line 2/3 in verse 1 is an impure, assonance rhyme