My poem 'Chemotherapy' - a tribute to the courage and constancy of The Book of Hat author Harriet Rowland's mum Jan Kelly - is on the Tuesday Poem hub this week with a poem by Frankie McMillan. We've both just judged the National Flash Fiction Day NZ competition and so we're paired up here by NFFD powerhouse Michelle Elvy. Very cool. Thanks Michelle!
The Book of Hat is published by my Mākaro Press. It is Harriet's story of living with terminal cancer based on her vivid, upbeat blog posts and has been a hit with young adult and adult readers around the country, and elsewhere. The Auckland Libraries blog reviewer says:
The Book of Hat is the real The Fault in Our Stars
The poem is here.
Showing posts with label chemotherapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chemotherapy. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Tuesday Poem: Chemotherapy
who knew she was there
hidden inside that thing that turns
her girl upside down and inside out
(poison, really, a small inefficient
killing field) let loose in a body still
young enough to smell of milk
in the morning, one the mother must
return to sit beside and stand over
to stroke the soft cheek, catch the soft
vomit, be steel to all that softness — a shield —
and, when called upon, to scream
like a banshee yet,
for the most part,
sits beside is all she can do, hands in lap
but running the spellcheck just now
over the girl’s story — all those
words, sharp teeth biting at the last
of life’s full belly — there she is! mother
over and over: the unexpected
heart
of the matter, with key
on one side,
and happy on the
other
Mary McCallum
This poem is for my friend Jan. Do check out other Tuesday Poems - there's the magnificent Bogong Moth on the hub and then in the sidebar you can find 30 poets with poems they've posted especially for today. Enjoy!
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