Monarca Rising

Tag: cancer

  • Symbiotic

    Symbiotic by Carmen H Gray   In the bath that night When your hair of coppery wine Fell out without a fight Your cells committing suicide A part of me died, too They all told me, “this is hardest on the mother” But I kept up appearances for you I held in the fears and…

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  • Full Circle

    C Words by Carmen H Gray Cancer, I refused To accept your terms And conditions for her So I conjured In my creative consciousness These words instead No matter the circumstances I would stare At my C words Day and night  And think to myself Words hold weight

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  • Life Twice

    “Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it”-Hunter S. Thompson Life Twice by Carmen H Gray One is the hand that was dealt One is what emerges, how it is felt One is the flush One is the bluff One is how to…

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  • The In Between

    For My Beautiful Warrior by Carmen H Gray Somewhere along the road Between sickness and health Between nightmares and fantasies A new me was forged The poisons churned inside me And those long, shadowy nights When my hands served as my sight Forever marked me Like the permanent scars That show where I was sliced…

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  • Exhale to Life

    Exhale To Life by Carmen H Gray A rush of tears Like a deluge in the summer heat Flood my bruised heart Cleanse my mind The Great Exhale That was in a holding pattern Breathes New Life Survival Progress Tenderness Into me The swelling and pain Blue-black wound Healing Changing Into a flesh tone Of…

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  • Zen and The Art of Survivor Maintenance

    PET Scan by Carmen H Gray Whirring noises are the sounds of birds in flight The cold air a misty San Francisco morning in the depths of summer Prayers whispered to Whoever while my hand touches the soft fuzz of her delicate hair Delicate shell, the inverse of Her being, Her soul, Her unconquerable spirit…

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  • The Sweetness in Real Time

    My daughter and one of her best friends, who happens to be a boy Caring transcends imaginary social boundaries that we create. Today, after my daughter’s appointment with her oncologist (a check up, which revealed fantastic blood counts and all things wonderful still), we headed to the art store (I’m beginning to think this art…

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  • Always and Evermore

    Cancer is insidious.  It wants to thrive and remain and continue to haunt you like a bad dream.  I knew this back in August when I prayed in vain that her results would not be cancer.  It is mentally challenging in the first few years for a survivor, lucky that one is, to not dwell…

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  • Hearts

    Today is a beautiful, sunny, breezy day.  My sweet daughter had her port removed (hopefully forever).  Her loving father took this beautiful photo of her post surgery.  The pediatric surgeon put this heart shaped bandage over the spot where the surgery took place.  A heart just above hers.  A heart to symbolize the pain endured,…

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  • For a Boy I Have Yet To Meet

    Cancer is insidious.  It multiplies and thrives and spreads, but so do your connections when it invites itself (however unwelcomed) into your life.  It has been difficult, this journey, and the lessons persist.  Today I have been schooled by a young person that is my daughter’s age who has shared doctors and teachers with her.  I…

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