Chemo Cycle Blues, Part I
encontrar mi
I was brushing my teeth this morning
when I looked up after spitting.
There in the mirror was a bald man
holding a toothbrush, his eyes
full of bewilderment and incredulity,
his face pallid and gaunt,
his eyes deeply sunken, lips chapped,
his beard and hair gone.
I leaned closer to the glass to better glimpse
the stranger holding my toothbrush.
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About the author:
In the fall of 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 2 B-cell, non-specified, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. Over the next six months, I endured six grueling hospitalizations for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. On February 6, 2023, I rang the bell on the Oncology ward. I’m cancer-free. Throughout the ordeal, I wrote poems. I include a handful below to share with your readers. They are original and unpublished.