Monday, May 4, 2015

The New Normal

We find ourselves at a new normal. Thanks to the efficacy of oral Revlimid + dexamethasone we have been holding the line in our cancer fight. We are on a blessed 8th year and starting the third year beyond what Sabine calls her "projected shelf-life.

For our birthday, which we both celebrate on April 5th (Easter Sunday this year!), I wrote this poem for her:



it’s the
new normal we
proclaim after
each
and every
life change or disaster
it can be
cancer
a change in chemo
death of
a child
and yet
that new normal slowly,
predictably appears
at our front
door
and waits
expectantly for
the invitation
we know you
we say
you’re welcome
to take the
room
upstairs
you know
the one
comfortably
we settle
back
on our couch
together
watching
a movie
yet
in my mind
my deepest
thoughts
he will no
longer be
welcome
here
no longer be
given
the room
upstairs
no
no longer
welcome
after you
leave
me
and my
heart
ripped
out of
my
chest
and the
movie we
were watching
ends.


(April, 2015)