Chemo Cycle Blues, Part I

I was brushing my teeth this morning

when I looked up after spitting.

There in the mirror was a bald man

holding a toothbrush, his eyes

full of bewilderment and incredulity,

his face pallid and gaunt,

his eyes deeply sunken, lips chapped,

his beard and hair gone.

I leaned closer to the glass to better glimpse

the stranger holding my toothbrush.

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About the author:

In the fall of 2022, I was diagnosed with stage 2 B-cell, non-specified, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the lymphatic system. Over the next six months, I endured six grueling hospitalizations for chemotherapy and immunotherapy. On February 6, 2023, I rang the bell on the Oncology ward. I’m cancer-free. Throughout the ordeal, I wrote poems. I include a handful below to share with your readers. They are original and unpublished.