When they finally tell you the truth
You won't believe
Sheltered through your short ten years
You know not pain
You know not how she suffered
But you smile and hold her hand
You tell her it would be alright
That the sun will shine again
Your innocence
Is all the light
That she ever needs
But you don't know
And might never know
When she lies on that white bed
You sleep at home on familiar sheets
With stars and planets sewn on
And that brown blanket forgotten
The colour of the eyes that you miss
And one night, whilst you sleep
And dream a nightmare deep
You'll be awaken
Shelter broken
Half-awake, you'll see her
And she would smile
As she...
passes away
One week later, you'll wear clothes of white
And cry when you view her picture
You'll not dare to go and see her face
Images of the undead
Trapped in your head
You're still a child
After all
They'll tell you stories
That's she happier up there
Fairies dancing round you
They all agree
So you believe
And you trust
And you smile
And you wave
And you scream
"GOODBYE"
When you see
That brown moth
Fluttering...
They would smile
They would cry
And you would follow
And even then
when they speak
"Cancer"
You think of the crab
Of that sign
You were born under...
And if it comes back
Maybe you'll understand
Maybe you'll cry
Because you know.
Because you will know.
Author notes
Rather... personal rant-poem-thingy. Follows what I think of myself as a little child when my grandmother passed away... from both loss of blood and cancer.
Being only ten then, and the fact that family relatives don't like to talk about her death, I know nothing except for the reasons of her death. She had fell, and lost too much blood. The doctors pumped water into her... and the water constricted the heart. Also, she had been suffering from a certain type of cacer at the same time... and obviously, the treatment had not been working.
The brown butterfly... In traditional beliefs, the brown butterfly represented the soul of a dead person going away... And just before a coffin is cremated, everyone is supposed to yell because the beliefs state that on that day, the soul will return to the body and if it doesn't escape... the soul will get burnt as well.
And yes, I am a Cancer.
And yes, I have another relative suffering from cancer.
Written May 24th, 2005
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Very well written. My mother had Cancer three years ago, but fortunately the treatments seemed to work. I've heard butterflies represent new beginnings and the crysalis, the death of the old. Very well constructed. I like it a lot and I'm sorry you have another relative with cancer. My thoughts are with you.
~Bezoar -
A unique view of a situation that is quite hard to deal with. Excellent job with this. I usually don't enjoy freewrites but this was simply brilliant.
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An amazing free write. Couple of spots want fixing... the apostrophe in the second line. Fifth stanza "sewn" instead of "sew" Sixth stanza... "awakened" instead of "awokened" It breaks the rhyme but doesn't hurt the piece.
I love how you've incorportated astrology into the poem and given a youngster's view of a painful situation.
Great write.
Maab -
This is a wonderful poem, and I certinally hoped it placed well in this contest. You have captured both sides of cancer; The person who has it, and the person who is close to said person. It really is an emotional time as well, which you expressed wonderfully here. Great symbolism as well, but I'll admit, at points I wasn't always sure of the flow. But it wasn't terrible! All in all, this was a very enjoyable poem to read because you put your heart and soul into it. Great job with that!
~Saknika -
I love this poem and all the meaning behind. This is an amazing write. Keep up the good work writing and best wishes to you.
Lindsey
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i like this poem and i like the meaning behind it. both relate very well. very good poem.
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