Cancer and other Poems

AFP photo

By

Rabeah Muzammil

Cancer

A pea sized lump, like a pebble

Tossed in water, ripples

A sense of foreboding gradually appears.

Should I battle like a soldier?

Unleashed my fear,

And embraced ‘whatever’.

As I wonder,

I turned to the weather,

After the raging storm,

The sun appears in its entire splendor.

So I sailed on my healing journey

And braved the storm of chemotherapy,

Like an epiphany,

It emboldens me,

My pain and anguish, fuel my journey

The tempest roar tells me,

Come sail away,

For the storm will make way,

For a clear day.

Hospital Waiting Room

Like waiting for Godot, in vain.

At the hospital, the waiting is tinged with boredom

And peppered with apprehension

Between ‘what-if’s’ and should-haves

I drifted, like ominous dark clouds.

From the mountains and the valleys

As faces passed me by,

Their somber expression is their state of mind.

Hidden behind the nook and crannies

Are untold stories of trials and tribulation.

Underneath the smile that hides the affliction,

Lies ‘The patience of Job’ extraordinaire.

That knows, God alone shall heal and mend.

So I cast away my doubts, revive and rise.

A Child’s World

Into the realm of hide and seek I escaped.

Where gleeful laughter emanates,

The art of simplicity fascinates,

It is a child’s world, a clean slate,

Where imagining and pretending stimulates,

A sparkling eyes, tingled with excitement,

A refreshing sing along sprinkled with delight and amusement.

I don’t have to hide,

Just close my eyes tight,

And the pretending starts.

The ineffable joy, of a child’s innocence

Is a breath of fresh air that rejuvenates,

Just like Peter Pan and Neverland.

Rabeah Muzammil

Rabeah Muzammil is a cancer survivor, a pensioner and a grandmother. Her sojourn extends in places like Africa, Indonesia and the UAE and these experiences have exposed to her to various types of poverty and human predicaments. Being poor is the real cancer that proliferates the vicious cycle of poverty and terminal illness. As a frequent traveller to various places around the world, she also noticed the unjust distribution of wealth that has created a huge gap between the rich and the poor. She hopes to create awareness pertaining to subject matters like cancer, nature, children and their wellbeing more through her writings.