My Wife's Superpower

Everyone going through cancer should have someone like my wife.

She has no giant gold letter on a tight blue or red shirt

concealed beneath her street clothes waiting for an emergency.

Her superpower is Organization, which is a good thing

during my cancer treatment, because she takes all the calls

from the oncology clinic, manages all my appointments,

refills every prescription, gets me to where I’m supposed to be,

and drives me home when I’m exhausted and chemo-brained

from each boring-ass hospital stay. She gathers all the statements

from the hospital and insurance, pays the bills, and files the forms

away in a cabinet like nobody’s business.

But she’d tell you her real superpower is her love for me.

Look there, soaring high above that skyscraper!

It’s not a bird or a plane.

It’s my wife riding her magic, flying ten-key calculator

with her cell phone in one hand and daily planner in the other—

the long, white, paper tape fluttering like a kite tail.

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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 They are original and unpublished.