Poetry, memoir,blogs and photographs from my world on the west coast of Canada.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
An Evolutionary Journey
Life has a way of
preparing you
for everything.
Everything is readying us
for what lies ahead.
The soul's journey
is one long evolution
forward.
She was unsurprised
at being told
they suspected cancer.
It was as if
she had
already known.
She was not afraid.
Not yet.
She had sat with
a loved one
during chemo,
as the burning liquid
drip,
drip,
dripped
into his arm,
and found out the oncology ward
is not a depressing place.
It is full of
positive people,
doing what they need
to do.
It is full
of heroes.
Her life had brought her
to the brink
so many times,
by now,
that she donned
the robes of
readiness
with her medical gown,
and prepared herself
for yet another
round.
If cancer was
what comes next,
then let it begin.
This may (or may not)
be just
one more bridge
to cross,
one more passage
through uncertainty,
through which
she must trust
a Greater Certainty,
on which she bases
her faith and her hope.
With every fibre
of her being, she knows,
no matter what happens, that:
All will be well.
All will be well.
All will be exceedingly well.
God is in his Heaven
in the clear, bright air
and all will be
exceedingly well.
[images from google]
I'm linking this to dVerse, where Mary's prompt is: Preparation
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ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful, and so full of a greater hope and certainty.
ReplyDeleteYou words show that the worst journeys of our lives are made bearable by having just one person who will hold your hand.
ReplyDeleteThere is always hope...even in the oncology ward. You always manage to find the silver lining! Preparation IS key!
ReplyDeleteNo, the oncology ward is not a depressing place, it is filled with gentle loving, caring human beings. Thanks Sherry,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2012/11/24/harmony/
it is full of heroes....yes it is...i love the faith with which she approaches it as well...its hard...cancer has touched several in my family...pray her strength and victory....
ReplyDeleteLoved how it built to the truly hopeful and secure ending. Very well done.
ReplyDeleteAttitude makes a big difference... I hope this is not someone you know, but if it is, may God be with her.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing the positive attitude that the patients have. I don't know how I would ever have the strength to prepare for to deal with something like this.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much dignity and hope in this Sherry. My friend's partner had a double mastectomy and was having 6 months radiation and 6 months chemo following it. I went with her for one of her treatments once, it wasn't full of morose, sad people at all. They were all just getting on with their lives and doing what needed to be done as you say.
ReplyDeleteLovely poem. I echo Laurie's comment.
Gosh, Sherry--this is full of beautiful faith and hope, and none of it overly emotional. Still, it tugs hard on the heartstrings. Well done.
ReplyDeleteSo powerful, full of hope, faith and yet my heart is pained in the reading as I too long for that hope to be a reality, a healing.
ReplyDeleteSherry...almost speechless...but enough voice left to say this is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautifully emotive expression of faith, hope, and peace. This is inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI love what you did here:
"as the burning liquid
drip,
drip,
dripped
into his arm"
And also, I really like "robes of readiness." Great work, Sherry.
It is funny how often that we dread things happening, despair that they have but then just get on and cope with it. Resiliance. Funny thing.
ReplyDeleteLove the mantra Sherry ~ All will be well at the end ~
ReplyDeleteHappy day to you ~
Life sometimes throws us things we think we can't handle... until we stand up and show it we can. You sound like such a soul.
ReplyDeleteWow, beautiful and touching... I like the repetition of "All will be well", like a mantra... And the use of "exceedingly" is quite surprising, as if good could be in excess... It sounds like someone trying to reassure themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat an uplifting piece!
ReplyDeleteThis is powerful and so true we are not alone! Wonderful to view this place as a home of heroes~ so well said :D
ReplyDeleteI too like you ending with a mantra...we need to be reminded of these heroes and this view~
Touching words, so well said!
Sherry, I hope this doesn't mean what the poem implies? I hope you are taking care of yourself??
ReplyDeleteThis poem could have been written for me :) Am off to be hooked up to another IV drip tomorrow... so will think of you and this wonderful poem xxxxxx
"All will be well.
ReplyDeleteAll will be well.
All will be exceedingly well. "
My favorite part. Almost a chant.
Beautiful poem.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the prior comment about the word "exceedingly". Like, there will be so much wellness, we won't know what to do with it...incredibly touching.
ReplyDeleteVery deep poem! I almost cried. Following you from the Poets United blog post.
ReplyDeleteoh heck...such a brave and hopeful voice.. so tough to go through this and it would be so easy to sink into deep depression...i just have high respect for people who still have a smile on their face then
ReplyDeleteThe bravery and optimism were clear.
ReplyDeleteSherry - your words are as breath-taking as all your photographs combined - I must say that I literally gasped and exhaled on the stream of the beauty and courage and perhaps essential humanity you have so exquisitely written and shared. Bravo, my friend.
ReplyDelete"...she donned the robes of readiness
ReplyDeleteLike a medical gown..."
Perfect words to capture this woman's amazing spirit. Love the inserted quote.
beautiful Sherry... you've portrayed this woman, many people on the "brink" so well. I hope that I will have such grace, if I am aware enough at the end of this life to know that I am as the woman you've described here.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a Julian of Norwich quote slipped in there. And the poem's preparedness shines through
ReplyDeleteOh what a poem Sherry...great...this reminded me of BHAGAVATH GEETHA....thanks a lot for sharing this lovely thought...
ReplyDeleteA powerful message, beautifully written, Sherry. Awesome and uplifting, and I agree with all of it. Well done!
ReplyDelete"It is full of heroes."
ReplyDeleteso true. i will not look at a hospital ward the same way again.
Once we learn to face our mortality it can be very empowering, great piece.
ReplyDeleteThere is an almost liturgical psalmic quality to these lines.wonderfully written.
ReplyDeleteYou have captured hope. It is a beautiful thing, rising above many other emotions.
ReplyDeleteDignity and graceful acceptance is the best that we can possess in the face of all that may come our way. Beautiful, Sherry...an important message.
ReplyDeleteSo much strength and trust is expressed in your poem. "all will be well...all will be well..." Hope is one of the tools in the healing toolkit. And holding hope and acceptance in one's heart at the same time - now that is strength!
ReplyDeleteAll will certainly be exceedingly well.. and so true that life prepares us for everything that lays ahead of us.. :).. thanks for the beautiful words..
ReplyDeleteThis is very beautiful Sherry. I admire those who are strong and can stay positive no matter what they must endure. I fear I wouldn't be as stoic but I suppose one never knows. There's a beautiful woman in her 50's I knew who recently passed after battling with brain cancer, and that was one astounding thing about her... how she was able to remain so positive. It is a testament to the beauty in the human spirit.
ReplyDeleteSo full of love and hope--this brought tears to my eyes Sherry!
ReplyDeleteI found this much different from other cancer stories because instead of radiating melancholy it radiated hope.
ReplyDeleteYou took my breath away with your open-heartedness, your faith in the process, your perspective on life and its ultimate end. Keen, clear writing here, Sherry, that speaks to the soul. And when I breathed out, it was in prayer that this is not autobiographical.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the musicality of your words along with the serous tones...soulful and thought provoking
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Peace,
Siggi in Downeast Maine
... don't we all know someone just like this
ReplyDelete... don't we all know someone just like this
ReplyDeleteattitude can make a difference, don't you think?
ReplyDelete♥
The last line says it all, Sherry.
ReplyDelete"All will be well..."-----When there's a will and determination to live, things fall into place automatically. But, preparing the mind is so very important, esp for patients in oncology ward.
Loved this..)
The peace and strength of people in circumstances like this are so inspiring. Very nicely captured Sherry.
ReplyDeleteOf all subjects, perhaps cancer is the hardest to write about. It's scary. The patients are always more optimistic than the doctors; doctors don't want to give false hope, but those who fight it, really fight it, are some of the most courageous people I know. Thanks for the wonderful expression about the hopeful side. Love, Amy
ReplyDeleteOh Sherry, this is so beautiful and full of hope. We never know what we are made of until we face the unthinkable.
ReplyDeleteThis is so tender and leaves the reader with a sense of hope and peace. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteWhile I read this it made me think of how many in my family have fought with cancer and through them how so many are still fighting. I have seen and met so many and their faith gives me the strength to not cry about the little things, wonderful poem Sherry
ReplyDeletesherry. oh. you know i just lost my friend. and i know he was full of humor and snark and all kinds of good things at the clinic, every time, and that he received the same there, till the end. but still. i'm sorry i can't comment here without saying too that cancer is a waster. a fucking waster of beauty. a devastating waste.
ReplyDeletelove you. xoxo marian
a hand held is always felt
ReplyDeleteCaptivating!
ReplyDeleteMy friend, Sherry! What you know, and what your faith senses are brought together here with experience. Beautiful. Still, I hope that this is not you and that you are well.
ReplyDelete