Six Weeks Into Chemotherapy
To be unseen, unprayed for, to be unhugged
in the grocery store and left alone
to select a melon. To be rooted
against, discomforted. To receive
no advice. God, let me be
ordinary. Invisible. Let me struggle
in the usual ways (stubbed toes, taxes)
and inspire no one in my misfortune.
To have all my misfortunes grow small.
To be dull as a leaf.
My neighbor lifts me to the Lord
in the middle of the street
and one of us feels better.
Oh, to be chronic. Hairy.
To add time to my own tragedy.
To do the way I did.
I’m a slick thing, sunken.
I’ve set my nerves on fire.
I’ve let go
a thousand birds
inside this body.
Oh, to be let go.
To hold onto
instead of being held.
I want to do all the holding.
Laura Paul Watson lives and writes in Pine, Colorado. She is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of Florida. She recently was shortlisted for the 2021 Manchester Poetry Prize, and her work appears in Agni, Boulevard, Beloit Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.
There is so much about this poem that I love: 1)The wordplay for example. I love the use of “unprayed for” and “unhugged” in the first stanza. 2)….and how the author manages to infuse humor into this poem too! I love the line about wanting to struggle in the usual ways (stubbed toes and taxes)! 3)….and the metaphor for the chemo treatment…”ive set my nerves on fire” and “ive let go of a thousand birds… Read more »