Here it is three years after
my right breast tried to kill me
and what do I do
about Thanksgiving?
As holidays go I donʻt believe
in celebrating an American genocide
with oblivious gluttony
but also I think
one can salvage this
Hallmark holiday
or maybe co-opt it
like the best ninjas
by giving thanks
from the soul and not the belly.
So I am here to thank
the cancer docs
who wake every day determined
to save a real person
to hold them to the earth
if possible
and the smartie scientists
who created the poisons
that at the moment keep
renegade tumor cells in check.
I thank the skilled surgeon
with her cool, cool gaze
whose eyes didn't smile until
they slid me onto her operating table
and also I thank
all of you who i think
kept me from dying by now
by just refusing to accept it.
The will is a mighty force
you know.
When bundled up en masse
and focused
it makes a laserbeam seem
but a weak wet kitten of a thing.
I thank the mother
who gave me life
and that includes
my mother Ocean.
And if I haven’t thanked you yet
this is me, doing that now
because without you
my heart would not be
laughing in the warm sea
as it was yesterday
as I looked around
treading water in the sapphire
blessed beyond my ability
to describe.
