Liquid Stars
Pamela A. Babusci
by Pamela A. Babusci
praying
all day & all night
to God
never questioning why
cancer invaded my life
until the doctor
tells me what stage cancer
i have, my fears
will hang like dewdrops
on a bleeding heart
pale gray clouds
across the morning star
i gather
strength & courage
for my first chemo
wishing my mother
was here to hold my hand
during treatments
from beyond life
i can feel her blessing
after chemo
getting thinner & thinner
my body
its shadow
fading on the wall
hair falling out
in clumps in my brush
on the floor
like petals
of a dying lotus
cancer is merely
a detour in life . . .
walking down
a nameless road
i stop & pick wild violets
no way off
this cancer journey
i set sail
into the blue batik sky
& glide without wings
autumn leaves
shedding into the misty day
slowly, slowly
my hair
growing back
who will rebuild
the ruins of my heart
after cancer?
i scoop up liquid stars
& drink them
Pamela A. Babusci is an internationally award-winning tanka poet, living in the USA. She wrote this tanka sequence after she completed her chemotherapy treatments for ovarian cancer. During these treatments, she was too ill to write any poetry. She has written poetry daily for over 40 years.
“I have always written poetry in times of sadness, joy, depression, happiness or trials in my life. So, after I completed my treatments for stage I ovarian cancer, I wanted to express my innermost feelings to convey exactly how I felt during my cancer journey. Writing ‘Liquid Stars’ has been a blessing and instrumental to my inner-healing and total wellbeing. My desire is that when women with ovarian cancer read my tanka sequence it will bring them comfort, strength, peace and healing.”
