letter to Sensei Glioblastoma
July 22, 2020 Dear Sensei Glioblastoma, A year ago today I learned of your existence in the right parietal lobe of my brain. You got my attention with that spooky seizure in the parking lot of Safeway. Later in the emergency room, I caught a glimpse of what you looked like in the CT scan….
Walkabout
Has anyone seen my bounce? I think it might have gone walkabout. Maybe the chipmunks stole it although they seem to have bounce, squirm, and skitter to spare. Maybe the hummingbirds thought it was nectar to rev up their tiny samurai hearts as they duel over the pink juice in the feeder. Maybe the robin…
Birth
Something racist, foul, cruel, and corrupt is in its death throes as something egalitarian, loving, kind, and just is trying to be born. But right now the baby is in a breech position the mother’s cervix cannot dilate the new babe cannot descend into the birth canal hence the chaos, convulsions, contractions, violence, screaming, and…
on wrapping a black belt around 45
Some of you may be having a gag reflex. Some may be thinking Kathy’s brain cancer is hollowing out her skull; she’s losing her mind. (Give me time; it may happen yet.) Others of you may be thinking, oh good. At last someone sees 45’s greatness as the epitome of the American dream — a…
An octet of haiku
1. Chemo brain haiku: a midnight obsession with counting syllables. 2. Cool breeze caresses, wafting thoughts pass through my mind: a spiraling leaf. 3. The road whines louder. People want normal again but normal is gone. 4. Fantasy road trip: the pop up yellow camper California bound 5. Basin and range and Sierras beckon but…
my two centos
RADIATION CENTO* What would you think if I sang out of tune?Would you stand up and walk out on me?Well there’s so many sinking nowrape, murder, it’s just a shot away, it’s just a shot awaythere must be some kind way out of here,You gotta keep thinkingYou can make it through these waveslean on me…
Duck and Cover
I am 11 years old at Radnor elementary school, huddled on my knees and elbows underneath my wooden desk. The sound of the air raid drill is far more disturbing than the one for the fire drill. Even though my arms are enfolding my head, I can peek around and see the other students ducking…
2020 vision
At the beginning of the year I wished for 2020 vision in all ways possible. I wished for us to be clear-headed and clear-hearted; clear in our words and actions; clear about our needs and priorities; clear about who we love and what we must do to protect our children for many generations to come;…
Mosaic
My fears have nothing to do with running out of toilet paper, the solution to which seems obvious; it fits nicely into the analogy of “deal with your own shit.” I’m not afraid of being “sheltered in place.” I’ve been practicing social distancing as a preference for many years. That’s why I’ve lived in tiny…
An ode to coronavirus
I’m a silver lining kinda gal, even if it’s only a sliver. If you have been following my journey with brain cancer, you know that about me. You will know that I’ve wrapped a black belt around my tumor and that I refer to it as sensei glioblastoma, and that I am on the hunt…