Breaking Through the Storms, Part 1

1.
Sister, I repeat several times,
I don’t want to dwell on terms, but no,
It’s not just an autoimmune disorder –
It’s an imbalance, more a disease,
In the bone marrow.
(How can I tell you it’s cancer
Without scaring us both?)

©️ 2025 Laura E. Garrard

Laura E. Garrard is a multiple myeloma thriver and published author living in the Northwest. Her poetry and prose have appeared in journals like The Madrona Project, Amethyst, Silver Birch, TulipTree Review, and others. Garrard has been chosen as a finalist for Bellevue Literary Review's John & Eileen Allman Prize for Poetry and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.