June 4, 2010
"I feel like an angel,
burning up
from the inside,"
my son tells me.
We're in the
oncology ward.
Chemo is
drip
drip
dripping
into his arm.
His hair is wisps now,
across his bald head,
like when he was a baby.
His eyes are still
as blue and true.
"I view reality
with perfect clarity,
but I've become aware
of another dimension.
When I look into a flower,
I see the whole universe.
I can hear the earth
groaning in ecstasy
and, in my body,
I can feel, with my heart
of compassion,
myself groaning along with it.
It's a good thing,"
he smiles
his unchanging
smile.
The chemo
drips
drips
drips
into his arm.
My son is an angel,
burning up from the inside.
