Chemo Poems

You Make Me Smile

You Make Me Smile

the diagnosis came as a shock
life altering-all came to a stop
several surgical scar forming resections
steady course of skin burning radiation
multiple courses of poisonous chemotherapy
grueling grind of gut-wrenching nausea
valleys of deep depression
alternate with hills of happiness
each day another day of life
totally different than the day before

through it all you have 
managed to maintain

Rewritten Chemo, Puberty and the Fourth Watch

Chemo, Puberty & the Fourth Watch

by Patrick Cornwall

Wake up—rush for the toilet, say my prayers.
Stomach races, chasing bowels,
anxious like horses shot from a gate.

Chemo, the man said. Takes time to get used to. And I’ll ring you.
I take a shower. Just trying to rinse the sick away.
Ready for the day.
The sun leads me out—
then gas

The Chemo Cafe 2

nurses come to top off my cup,

the coffee and poison mingle

in the air and on my tongue,

she draws the curtain,

moans next door persist,

snow falls outside the window,

the ground pure white,

trees naked and swaying,

like the grass beneath,

the people huddled inside,

waiting for crackers and another hot cup,

and for the coming spring,

the first green bud peaking from the

Chemo and the side notes

So the chemo got the cancer
though I have three more trips to the chair
but for this very moment there is no lump longer there

Its kinda a revelation with the battle going on
but this silly computer game producer
still manages to motor on

I miss the cowboy
He turned out to be a charleton. 
But he used to make me laugh

Chemo

The endless waiting burns into my brain
Every tick of the clock drives me insane
Life washes away with each wave of pain
My sorrow will not let me feel again
My resolve is broken; nothing left to gain
Let death come for me, no need to remain

Chemo

Wake up and rush for the toilet and say my prayers

 Stomach races trying to catch up to the bowels emptying anxious

Chemo the man said it takes a bit to get used to and I’ll ring you

Take a lovely shower , feeling lovely, and ready for the day

And the Sun is leading me out the

Waiting For Chemo

What is gonna happen?
How will I be feeling ?
Will I be withdrawn?
Will I be dancing on the ceiling?
Will it make me tired?
Will I be in pain?
Will I worry every time?
The treatment’s due again ?
Will they take more blood from me?
And send it off for tests?
Will they be responsive,
If I make any requests?
Will I have to

Chemo Sabe

When lifting hair was not a crime
Tonto was ahead of his time
He saw a bald Ranger
Whose mask made him stranger 
A real pandemic paradigm!

Cruel Chemo

Titian tresses tumble
as do her tears
I’ll save on hairdressing costs
she says with a watery smile

BITE SIZE POEM no 29 Poetry Contest

Sponsored by Line Gauthier

12/10/21

Wanda Woman

No matter what’s in front of you 
Wanda Woman is behind you 
Wanda Woman!
No matter what’s behind you 
Butterflies gonna pull for you!

She’s a dancer, cancer
Can’t kill her soul
She’s a winner, and in her
Is a heart of gold

She’s a mother, lover
A grand-mom too
She’s a tougher, warrior
Than the “x” you know who.

No matter what’s in front

Rainbow Sherbet and Dying Poems

I never got why you always
Ate the red pink color out 
The Sherbet ice cream

It was like excavation
How you removed all the cherry
Without even affecting the other colors

Leaving the orange and the vanilla
Neatly for others
Who does that?

Being a poet I used to think that one day
That could be a metaphor in some poem
Which would take

Chemo

My therapy is chemical,
I go for weekly sessions.
My artery is femoral.
The site of my injection.

The venom attacks 
the mitosis of my splitting cell.
Dyspepsia takes over,
like a spinning carousel.

On a Patio In Central Pennsylvania

On a Patio in Central Pennsylvania

		Slowly     patiently     silently
		a stink bug descends
		toward my white-haired woman.
		She is undeterred
		by the imminent intrusion
		of this small spot
		of Nature’s alien creep.
		From where?
		Maybe Nature or the bug man
		at the nearby college might know.
		My wife knits on
		Slowly     patiently   

Chemo

chemo waiting room
patients eat saltines
from a candy dish



Published in Bottle Rockets #42 2020

AP: Honorable Mention 2021

Posted on October 25, 2018

Chemo War 2

Chemo War 2 (some months ago)

So many months of toxic love? and radiation,
 meds, destroying disfigured foes
collaterial danage as useful cells die
and badly burnt in chemical
and radiant heat, I am drained and pale
my hair thinned, my skin  red and raw
this is the final fight, the battles’ at an end, 
the last scars formed, last

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