BlossomThere's a funny thing about pain
it comes to you unexpected
from a tiny seed it grows
budding gently inside your heart
swelling inexorably
ever-growing, seemingly unstoppable
until the bud fills you completely
leaving no room for anything else
and then
when you have finally come
to be used to its presence
it blooms...
the petals open
the pollen is released
and the flower wilts
shrivelling up
dwindling down
until it seems strange
that it was ever there at all...
the release is incredible
you have your life back
and it seems
that the world is again Good
BUT
a flower has seeds
so one day
when you least expect it
the seeds will sprout
and the flower of pain
will once again grow
to consume your life...PetrificationNote - I wrote this poem when my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer only a few months after her husband had completed his chemotherapy for leukaemia. It scared me witless... fortunately, they have both made a full recovery.
Words have power.
Some have a good power
to warm and soothe -
love, butterflies, kittens...Some words bring back memories
of a past thought forgotten -
apricot, jellyfish, pampas grass...
different for everyone, but powerful still.Some have the power
to chill you to the bone -
rape, abuse, death...And there is one word,
one little word
that scares half the population to death...Mention this word
and they gibber in fear,
flashing forward in time
to its inevitable conclusion...the horrible pain...
the terrible treatments...
the end of life for someone dear...it scares me too
I don't want to face it
I don't want to think about it
I just want it to go away and leave us alone...but it won't.
It's here
It's real
It's going to hurt...
and it's not even me...so what's that word?
CANCER.