The Hope

                      Frani
                           climbs out
                         of the shower,
                       wrapped in a pink
                    bath towel, pats herself
                   dry, ties           back her hair,
                  wipes the                mist from the      
                 mirror, and                        stares at the
                naked image.                       Her face has
                                     good color.                             smooth.Youthful.                  
               Her body is                                trim, firm, and
              shapely. She                            raises her right
              arm and with                             her left hand         
                    performs the                                periodic ritual.            
                   Her fingers                               probe her breast          
                and underarm,                 gently squeezing,
                 searching for               lumps, bulges,
                  tenderness or pain. She finds     
                 nothing and repeats the process
                  on her left side. She'll be            
                   forty in a few months and
                   have a mammogram, another
                    procedure she'll have to
                   endure every year, because
                    she's at risk. Her mother
                    lost her right  breast     
                   over twenty     years ago,
                  she's alive,        but, Gram'ma 
              died from the            cancer, long
            before Frani                     had been   
            born.  And what                 if I have it,       
            lumpectomy,                         mastectomy,
            or should I                                  take the test       
            to find out if                           I have the gene,     
             and then what if                        I do? Have both      
             removed and                             reconstructed,    
            still losing a                                    piece of myself?'    
     "Mommy, why                                         are you crying?"    
           Frani's five                                             year-old asks, from
         the threshold                                             of the doorway.
                                                              "It's nothing,                                                   honey, I have                                                             
         something in                                                  my eye."  She
        rubs her eyes                                                     and wonders,
       'My daughter will                                                     have to face
                this, but I know                                                           they will soon         
                                                                find a                                                                        cure?'                                                      

 

Submited by poetpete
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 08:36

Submited by

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 - 14:36

Poesia :

Your rating: None (1 vote)

poetpete

poetpete's picture
Offline
Title: Membro
Last seen: 8 years 29 weeks ago
Joined: 05/03/2011
Posts:
Points: 936

Add comment

Login to post comments

other contents of poetpete

Topic Title Replies Views Last Postsort icon Language
Poesia/Poetrix At The Strip Mall 0 1.236 12/10/2011 - 23:05 English
Poesia/Acrostic U. S. A. * 0 2.886 12/10/2011 - 15:06 English
Poesia/Poetrix To Walt Whitman 0 1.418 12/09/2011 - 22:20 English
Poesia/Poetrix The Absurd 0 1.227 12/09/2011 - 05:47 English
Poesia/Poetrix Stationary 0 1.480 12/09/2011 - 05:36 English
Poesia/Poetrix Mother Nature 0 1.611 10/24/2011 - 05:14 English
Poesia/Poetrix To Galway Kinnell 0 1.110 10/23/2011 - 21:46 English
Poesia/Passion Under the Summer Moon 0 1.941 10/23/2011 - 16:47 English
Poesia/Poetrix At Dusk 0 2.327 10/23/2011 - 16:43 English
Poesia/Poetrix Scooter Tramps 0 1.699 10/22/2011 - 17:34 English
Poesia/Poetrix big old dawg 0 1.997 10/22/2011 - 17:31 English
Poesia/Poetrix The Last Words 0 1.935 10/19/2011 - 20:56 English
Poesia/Poetrix Endless Wake 0 1.198 10/17/2011 - 23:17 English
Poesia/Poetrix Bethel, NY 8/15/98 0 1.690 10/06/2011 - 03:13 English
Poesia/Poetrix The End of February 0 2.357 10/06/2011 - 03:11 English
Poesia/Poetrix Summer Writing 0 1.336 10/06/2011 - 03:09 English
Poesia/Poetrix Danger: Deep Water 0 2.184 09/28/2011 - 16:00 English
Poesia/Poetrix Inner Circle 0 1.423 09/28/2011 - 04:32 English
Poesia/Poetrix One Exit 0 1.248 09/27/2011 - 19:58 English
Poesia/Poetrix Reflections in a Puddle 0 1.222 09/27/2011 - 19:56 English
Poesia/Poetrix Outskirts 0 1.560 09/27/2011 - 19:55 English
Poesia/Poetrix Play Ground 0 1.200 09/27/2011 - 19:51 English
Poesia/Poetrix Little Lambs 0 1.742 09/27/2011 - 19:49 English
Poesia/Poetrix The Street 0 1.905 09/27/2011 - 19:48 English
Poesia/Poetrix Choreography 0 2.255 09/27/2011 - 19:46 English