Gone On

One day last fall, I realized why a recent friend's breast cancer had been moving me so. I wrote this poem about my mom, me and the cancer that still connects us. It's not so pretty or happy, but it is real and it is from my heart.

GONE ON

Mirror mirror on the wall
My, that is an ugly scar
From top to bottom and side to side
Well, at least it’s gone
And for awhile, life goes on

The mother’s cave
Is her wound too.
Why is survival such a crime?
Oh, how to wish the whole thing gone
And for awhile, life goes on

Daily breathing in the brine
It can come back, you know
Just decides to stop back by
A guest that really won’t be gone
And for awhile, life goes on

Uneven rhythms jolt
The life and make the nights
So deep and long
The thoughts keep coming, never gone
And for awhile, life goes on

Vile, they take away more of the light
For man and child too
That loss makes the call go on
Live now, fast, it can be gone
And for awhile, life goes on

Is that her lump of fear in me?
Did it jump the end and spread?
It is the cell of uncertainty
Oh say that it’s not here, but gone
And for awhile, life goes on

This taste of life’s bite
Drives thoughts to wander -
living a life beyond her brink
Of leaving more than this when gone
And for awhile, life goes on

What will happen if it dies?
If this open flame goes dark
she is not daily here, yet is
Funny, to need her here and gone
And for awhile, life goes on