No words
I had no idea what he would say when at the checkout I stop to pass the time of day. How are you doing , good that’s okay and Ellen I heard she was unwell is she okay .
He told me, my friend , his dear wife had only a finger hold left on life.There was no hope they have been told. His fortitude and his daughters face made my blood run cold.
I could see the pained look on his daughters face, both of them trying not to cry I’d reach out but this was not the place. I could say nothing he had not heard before. I told him this, then a look of relief in his eyes I saw.
It would not have help for me to have laboured the point, or to have said any more. It was clear he knew how I felt, and he would of heard it all before.
They finished packing their shopping and as they left they promised to give her my love leaving me lost and bereft.
I hate Cancer it is so cruel it attacks anyone be they wise or a fool. It has no respect for those who are good and kind it tears up your body and it slaughters your mind. If I could kill it I really would it is wicked and bad and evil and does no one any bloody good.
willowdot21 
Sep 17, 2011 @ 20:46:11
The final stanza hit me hard in the face. Cancer is a horrible disease and it had no sympathy for its victims.
Sep 18, 2011 @ 09:10:54
The incident in the poem was exactly what happened to me yesterday and as I have lost four loved ones recently and more over time to this unthinking killer my anger is raw right now. Thank you for commenting I do appreciate it.
Sep 18, 2011 @ 01:29:19
few days ago i was alone wandering around. i had no place to sit. every couch was occupied by sleeping people. finally i found a place to sit just near the entrance of the emergency department (yeah this is a hospital) some people, smiling and chattering, took inside the ER, a long box covered in a black bag, but i knew it was a coffin. i was dearly wishing it was not a coffin but my hopes shattered. half an hour later they came back, the box covered in black, it seemed heavy and the smiles and chatter were gone. they looked sombre. behind came a mother and a teenage son. the son was holding his unstable mother. she was shedding tears, he looked like the whole world had just crumbled upon him. i would never forget that look. behind came even more relatives, but what is etched in my mind is the how the son looked. he didn’t cry but he clearly understood his life is never going to be same.
sorry for ranting, i had a hard time forgetting that event and after reading your work, i’m again thinking about them, how they might be doing. that was no cancer but an emergency but cancer too evoke such feelings in the beloved, while the patient slowly perish, the beloved ones are equally slowly drained by their anguish and despair. your writing is emotional and as ever evoke feelings. keep it up.
Sep 18, 2011 @ 09:05:48
You must believe that, that lad found the strength to help his mother and she him and lets hope all the relatives draw in around and help for as long is needed. All credit to you for remembering and wishing them well. That speaks volumes about you. I wrote that poem because yesterday what I speak about in that poem did actually happen to me . This the fourth time in a very short time that cancer has stolen people i know and love from me …it is a raw anger I feel right now……….. Thank you for sharing never be afraid to rant you have shared a good thing here.
Sep 18, 2011 @ 10:05:21
Wünsche einen schönen Sonntag und einen lieben Gruss schön geschrieben mit Googl Übersetzt lieber Gruss von mir Gislinde. http://zitroneblog.wordpress.com
Sep 18, 2011 @ 13:22:32
Vielen Dank für Ihre Grüße Ich wünsche Ihnen einen schönen Sonntag zu. Vielen Dank für Geschmack mein Gedicht. Ich habe auch Googlr Translation verwendet. willow ;o)
Sep 18, 2011 @ 15:37:18
Yes cancer is a most horrible disease, nothing can stop the onslaught and everything is so terribly hopeless my friend… You did the very kindest of things by not pushing the sadness beyond their capacity…
I wish you a very nice
rest of weekend Willowdot 21 🙂
Androgoth Xx
Sep 18, 2011 @ 15:48:28
Thank you , it is so hard to know what to do or say when you have by not knowing the full facts waded straight in ! Thanks for saying I did the right thing but I still feel crass. I am calming down now but cancer is still an evil thing. I hope you Androgoth have a good evening !
willow
Sep 18, 2011 @ 19:11:22
The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart. ~Nikolai Lenin
Sep 19, 2011 @ 07:49:32
Please forgive me if I sounded harsh yesterday , I was upset I wish you a good week.
Sep 18, 2011 @ 21:26:53
Thank you for your comment. Well, what Lenin said is true but cancer kills keeping heart or loosing it … I am sorry but my feelings are still raw.
Sep 20, 2011 @ 17:11:16
“a finger hold left on life”…such a provoking manner of speaking. How many people we must pass constantly throughout our day who are suffering in some way or otherwise lonely. I find that whatever I feel inside I project onto the faces of others. When I am hurt or saddened I see others hurt and saddened. In some respects, I see cancer as a physical manifestation of all the things that eat us up inside. It is so profoundly life altering and merciless. Our reactions and feelings toward it are so different than, say, a car wreck or a murder. The helplessness is a strong stab at our inner fragility. We truly are glass figurines trying so hard not to be broken.
Sep 22, 2011 @ 15:53:02
Hi no computer handy at the moment so struggling with phone the moment hope to be back to normal next week thanks for your words willow xt
Dec 30, 2011 @ 01:13:07
I do hate cancer so.
AZ
Dec 30, 2011 @ 09:41:56
Me too , but chin up chick be strong so you can help your relative remember make them fight it can be beaten!!