The Night Before the Radiotherapy

Cherry

By Silver Spun Sand

Wed, 14 May 2014
  • 1207 reads
8 comments
 
Hugs his pillow – craving his affections,
after what they term, necessary, drastic surgery.
Dressings removed a week since; her fingers
track the line of a mutilated cheek – scarred 
from ear to chin; a necessary evil, though.
 
A malignant growth enveloping the facial nerve;
severance the key, options – none. Life – priceless.  
Except, who can put  a price, either, on a smile, 
a wink, or a kiss, or the sweet tone of her, 
and her beloved saxophone.
 
A benign blue light from the TV reflects
in her eyes.  Banter...blurb that babbles 
on and on. Trivialities...the whole shebang... 
as is everything, except this...here, now. 
Meantime, her husband’s out on the piss,
mourning his loss.
 
A minute to midnight...the witching hour,
they say; an apt time for her to face the truth.  
Go on...look  in the mirror, why don’t you?
See what hits him,  each time he looks at you...
 
a smile, once could have launched
a thousand ships, or so he’d flippantly 
said, when first they’d  met...before...
Now, nothing more than an ugly yaw
reminding her of her late grandma 
when she’d had that massive stroke.
 
Bins a ‘Get Well’ card from a friend...
how desperately she wished, but how impossible
was that?   Thinks about tomorrow,
the hospital...the treatment.  Throwing
good money after bad....no-hoper
as she was;
 
secondaries already set in, in her spine – her lungs
her liver.  Considers the mask – tailor-made
to protect the rest of her jaw, her face...
the mask she’d wear for two hours a day
for six weeks...no problem with that. No.
 
The thing that bothered her most, was the mask
her god, in his wisdom, had thrust upon her...forced 
her to wear, for the rest of her life,  how ever long
that would be...the one there was no 
escaping from.
 
Certificate 15
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Biography
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Comments

Submitted by Bee on

Hi Tina.

So raw - so bitter and powerfully emotional. Honest writing that tells it like it is. It moves me and I admire it, and almost wish I'd never read it - yet glad I did. I make no sense - ignore me.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Bee - you make more than perfect sense, and I thank you.

Tina

 

Submitted by Yvonne Anderson on

Hello Tina

You capture the cruelty of life at a point of utter desolation. It leaves me wondering where she can go after this. Raw

Best wishes. Yvonne

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Yvonne - your thoughts more than appreciated. Thank you, so much.

Tina

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Though it made it the more painful, the memory of her lovely smileshe'd had and had shed abroad is one she and others would treasure, revealing and conveying probably such a warmth of affection. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Your words are inspiring, Rhiannon. Many thanks.

Tina

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Tina

Very emotional story this, and it seems very true. I have a bridge friend whose face was mangled by surgery for her cancer, and she was so self-concious when she as finally brave enough to come back and face us. I think she would have liked a mask. But now, years later, nobody notices, and she is alive and winning in bridge.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thank you, Jean, for sharing.

Tina