Sarah in Kenya

five small bodies surround you
three on outstretched legs
black skin gleams like lake in moonlight
close-cropped black curls top each eager head

you contrast with
blonde hair shining in the sunlight
pale white skin
long legs

and yet there you are
fitting in like a big puzzle piece
making your journey a part of theirs
your lap an endless pool of love

Jocelyn at three

thick dark curls newly grown
button nose
round brown serious eyes
------radiate
------------life

up stairs on all fours
------legs too weak
running after dog causes coughing fit
steroids course through her body
------from recent chemo

determination personified
like those unruly curls
full force

back up from the couch
chasing dog again

no stopping her

Bailey

candy tongue spilling
tan fur soft as cloudy sky
on my lucky lap

swimming

sometimes I swim
slicing through cool lake
with awkward strokes
turning to breathe
only to the right

my eyes stay open
seeing sun slanting through water
algae clouding view

sometimes I swim
mind drifting back
to algae infused prayers
thoughts turning to breathe
in the sun-soaked
fireworks of love

sometimes I swim
getting it right

chemotherapy

bags hung upside down with tubes going through ticking machine
mixing and pumping all manner of substance into one tube
leading to my veins vying with the bastard cells in my blood
battling battling battling my heart racing my tongue telling
me that this battle is going on as I wait in this chair battling
boredom and despair until the bags are empty and
my body breaks free

incision #2

begins below sternum
down and then sharp turn
under rib cage
slicing to side

a sideways ell
redpinkpurple
starting to fade
blending into background
of skin
skidding into past

ell is for liver leaving past
behind
regenerating
growing
filling space behind ribs
with

hopestrengthlife

life force

grip
pull
snap
dead branches
drily break off trees
in backyard

no sap binds

unaccountably
living twigs sometimes grow
on these skeletal raven perches

grasp these leafy lives
and hold on
tight strands resisting removal