Needles plunge. Consultants come and go.
Today, leukocytes are easy to locate;
tomorrow, next year, they may sink below.
Taxol drags at her heart. The drip, so slow,
eases on, flowing down her hand’s tight veins
as needles plunge and consultants come and go.
The nurses praise her husband’s constancy, though
he’s uneasy, each treatment — can he sustain
her, tomorrow or next year, if she sinks below?
The ward’s fish flit through a new tank, even though
the fatigued walls sag with the same diseased paint.
Needles plunge. Consultants come and go.
She still submerges, cold, forlorn. She knows
he’ll ease her to a surface of hours, days,
tomorrow. Next year, she might sink below.
Bloods, infections, bruises, vomit, soothing low
tones, fish rising in an easy ballet:
tomorrow, next year, all these could sink below
the needle’s plunge. Consultants come and go.
Cancer Villanelle by Tracey S. Rosenberg | Lemon Poetry Reed Diffuser
Tracey S. Rosenberg is a writer and spoken word artist from Chicago who now lives in Scotland. She's performed her work at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Banff Centre, as well as on BBC Radio Scotland and in many other places around the world. She's published four poetry collections and one novel, and her work has been selected for Best British Short Stories and Best Scottish Poems. An avid traveller, she's been to Easter Island and North Korea. She's on Instagram @traceysrosenberg
