FIGHTING THE BEAR

Gazing out the window
With my chin against my fist
Watching Mother Nature and
The beauty I have missed

Since summer I've been busy
My head bowed low in fear
Breast cancer and its treatments
Are like fighting with a bear

The danger and the pain
When you get a swat or bite
Then praying for survival
With this rival full of might

 
Two biopsies, three surgeries
Plus chemotherapy
Dissections and infections
Then balding vanity

Next comes radiation
Will my skin survive or burn?
This is information that I
Wish I did not learn

Come Summer I'll have
Hair again
My independence too
I'll greet our Mother Nature
With vitality anew

The future is uncertain
I know this more than ever
I never will forget this strife
I'll be my best forever

Tracking the Eagle

Here's a poem I wrote last week. I was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay called Fate, and some surgery I had.

    Tracking the Eagle

Tip-toeing forth from a hazy day

that bristled with pain and fear

Fuzzy fronds float away

leaving trails of compassion and cheer

Capable confidence, true concern

sprinkled with tinklings of love

Through the mist, I follow the tern

to the other side there-of

New pieces of music flow through to my soul

soothing the warrior within

A balm of hope claims a leading role

as defiance juts out my chin 

I am ready to stand tall again.