I’m Back
-for Guiliana & Deborah
Throat Cancer. Chemo. Radiation
Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS)
Lymphedema. Dental Caries
Xerostomia (permanent dry mouth)
Pneumonia in the middle of treatment
Picking me up after
outside St. Mary’s, Caretaker Rosen
said I looked like I was on my way out
A goner like dear dead Jack
Started improving & then hernia
Surgery. Covid & quarantine
Home-tested myself when I sniffed
my stash of Egyptian blue lily
& couldn’t smell a thing
Confirmed in Telluride the next day
Prostate Cancer. Gleason Nine
Aggressive. Chemical castration
Laparoscopic surgery
Catheter. Incontinence. Adult diapers
But here iamb
Lyric alive
& looking back at you
ART GOODTIMES
Lone Cone Broadside Union of Mountain Poets
Vincent St. John Local / Headwaters of Maverick Draw / Aztlán
the late Jack Mueller Brigade / Western Slope / 4 Corners
Cloud House Brigade (Retired) / San Francisco
13022
(Photo by Rio Coyotl)
Such excellent post EarthDay news. Hugs frim Jess and Sally
ReplyDeleteHugs back. Earth Day, itki's become a thing, hasn't itki?
DeleteWelcome back.
ReplyDeleteitki's fun to make it home
Deleteafter a run of touch & go
Art!
ReplyDeleteWritten in your honor for a contest I entered today. Genre Historical Fiction plus a required action and word.
Titled: Written in Stone (Alt. Title: The Secret Rendezvous Point)
Distraught at her best friend’s news, 16-year-old Gertrude crumpled to the ground outside the Victorian mansion’s stone wall. The mansion housed the art institute atop Nob Hill, commanding a breath-taking view of San Francisco.
“My family’s moving to Seattle, not around the world,” reassured 13-year-old Alice.
“This is our end. I feel it in my bones,” Gertrude lamented.
Kneeling down, Alice picked up a chunk of coal, drew a heart on the wall, and wrote:
ABT + GS
FOREVER
6-1-1890
After a deep embrace, they departed separately, believing someday, somewhere, they would reunite to write their enduring love story together.
Sweet, anonymous friend. Gertrude and Alice were a legendary love story
Deletea moment! my hero Lew Welch loved Gertrude Stein. I'm still wrestling with her. still looking for the perfect alternative sugar brownie.
ReplyDeleteArt,
ReplyDeleteA long time ago (early 70s), you and I shared a conversation under a willow tree in the back yard of a friends house in Niwot, Colorado. The world keeps turning.
Oh my goodness, Carl. How wonderful that you remember. Where are you now -- I live in Norwood
Delete