Alisha Yi ’22 discusses the raw emotions associated with cancer treatment in this free verse poetry.
tumor (n.)
somewhere the body becomes heavy because everything
bloats and because pain is not private and when the doctor
does the math you let the radiation bite your insides so the cells
would fail to swell and when the preacher comes into the ICU
after six months you have no room for tears because everyone
is playing along while holding their breath and in his prayer he talks
about the cities under the crowns while the monitor next to you
beeps to the throb of your chest and everything feels so quiet
even though the gadgets on your body like the IV drip is so loud
and the doctor comes in later to tell you that the cells have been
flooding the currents and chewing all your flesh and that
there is little time so you pretend to catch an angel and pray
to its soul and then when the heart monitor is less speckled
with stars you cradle your prayer into your palm to God before
you are unable to hang up.
Image source: Ioana Davies
