Cancer

A scorpion in a crab's garb!
Has stung into my body cells;
Poisoning my joy's inner orb,
Has dug into me deep death wells…

Bitter emptiness in me shrouds,
Like dark eclipses in the Space;
Have heaven's galaxy's star crowds,
Dared dim the light of Divine grace?

I will not ask you, Lord, why me?
I've received your blessings many;
When I receive good things for free,
This pain is nothing worth any!

The scorpion has stung me sharp,
Creating in me lumps of pain;
My life, now, is a stringless harp,
Playing as though purely in vain...

Chemotherapy, surgery,
Radiation, all and sundry;
I'm like skin in a turnery...
The scorpion is still hungry!

Pain is cancer within cancer,
It springs up from any corner...
Like an expert ballet dancer,
It is the mourned and the mourner...

Headache, tremor, and nausea,
Dead dearth in any smell and taste;
Although losing the cornea
My vision still clings to be chaste...

Unable to eat what I want,
I consider everything waste ;
Realizing the true love bond,
It's not food. I love the love's taste. 

Hands heavy; legs swollen and weak,
All hair emptied; eyebrows have gone;
Mental agony at its peak,
Every bit of beauty gone worn…

Tablets for everything: for hair,
For eye-brows; for a better look;
For the very breathing the air,
For making me read a good book...

Cancer is scorpion severe,
Yet, it is not my death sentence;
In life's purification sphere,
Cancer might be part of penance...


06 June 2021
Cancer Ivy Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke
Copyright © | Year Posted 2021

Poem

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Delaney Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 1:55 PM
Such a powerful and poignant piece. The helplessness against the scorpion is overwhelming. SuZ
Alex Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 2:36 PM
Thank you very much.
Sambourne Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 10:32 AM
Powerful entry here for Ms Cooke's contest. It should be a high placement given the force of the piece. I especially like the metaphor, " cancer is a scorpion." Best of luck. Brian
Alex Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 10:42 AM
Thank you very much.
Buhagiar Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 5:19 AM
Sad subject but so common these days. I lost so many relatives to the deadly disease. It is good to offer our pains in atonement to what God thinks best.
Alex Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 6:37 AM
Thank you very much.
Balasubramanian Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 4:28 AM
In life's purification sphere, Cancer might be part of penance... Profound thoughts. Hope above is fiction
Alex Avatar
June 6, 2021 at 6:39 AM
Thank you.
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