Time and Place

Time and Place

it’s a big room, huge. cavernous even, except lots of light from many windows.
it’s a slice of life, cross section I mean. shared experience with strangers seen
frequent during this course of time.

the nurses work steady, move about, check medicine levels, the poisons I call them.
first see physician, dear Dr A. most human, multi-tasking, hard to focus, yet such
genuine caring he calls me honey and I don’t mind.

I come into this space looking nicely dressed, pretty, with having my hair, some piece
of my energy. rosy cheeks, appetite intact, not pale or thin till it’s painful to look.

chemo room, people my age, and older. stories of recurrence decade or more later.
also younger women, shocking statistics of their disease.

no one acts angry, no display of bitterness.
people’s bravery and spirit - that they laugh and joke with family and friends might
be mistaken for being stoic. I know it’s a testament to being alive

Author: Micky Schorr
On OMPJ

Photo: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash