Engrained in my memory is the moment I was wheeled away from my husband and mother through the large gray double doors with a big yellow sign reading, ‘No visitors beyond this point.’ Emotions were at a high during that suspension of time before surgery for stage IV oral cancer. I’m now a 23-year survivor and I still remember how I felt like it was yesterday. Questions scrambled around my head: Could I survive this? How will this affect my life, my family? What is my fate and will I be able to accept it?
Writing continues to provide a gateway for releasing just-below-the-surface emotions. Poetry allows for personal interpretation, allowing readers to experience the message in a very individual way.
Fate
Awaiting Fate
in my gurney parking spot
alongside other patients
coming in
and out
of surgery.
She is absolute
Fear
Loneliness
Questions
Uncertainty
Regrets
Fate tightropes
between life
and death.
Breathing in
and out
I pray
No deals brokered
No promises to keep
Surrender to Fate
with gratitude
for expertise, care, love
moments to cherish
Fate forward
Hope decorated
Beginnings dignified
Light magnified
Normals reshaped
Me unveiled.
Did a word or phrase in this poem resonate with you and bring to the surface a story that is uniquely yours? I would love to hear your feedback!
