Just before dawn, in a half-awake dream, I climbed down my spine one bone at a time into unfamiliar territory, seeing veins, arteries, cells, blood, connective tissue, nerves, lungs, liver, kidneys, ureter, and bladder. As I descended, I found myself in a rainforest populated by unexpected creatures: iguanas, bats, lizards, snakes, scaly-tailed squirrels, toucans, fairy bluebirds, and millions of beautiful, graceful, complicated butterflies. Among them, a purple butterfly landed on a bush, followed by another red with pink dots, and another with big brown eyes. Reaching my pelvis and standing between my hips, I perceived past surgical interventions but saw a scene of repair, not despair. Climbing back up my spine, one bone at a time, my journey ended with a call from Dr. Donaldson in the afternoon, informing me, "Your margins are clear; the cancer has not spread."
May 19-25, 2024: THE LAKE EDEN WRITING WEEK- with Nickole Brown, Allan Wolf, James Navé, and special guests. Join us for a terrific week of writing from The Imaginative Storm to the Creative Form. Join us: www.jamessnave.com.
BACKGROUND NOTES ON 100 DAYS: Poems After Cancer
Twelve years ago, celebrating Poetry Month beginning April 1, I wrote 100 poems in the 100 days following my surgery on March 30. Last May 2023, 3: A Taos Press published the poems in a beautiful book titled 100 Days: Poems After Cancer: 3taospress.com/authors/james-.... In the spirit of poetry, I'm revisiting this journey by reading one poem daily from “100 Days” over the next 100 days, concluding on July 9, 2024. I hope you enjoy the poems.