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The Attic Illness
by Lisa Marie BrodskyIt went from the living room
to the attic,
this cancer,
so you walked with your right foot
dragging.
I saw cars pass with families eating
newly-picked apples.
I saw a baby born in a bathtub,
its eyes rolling into its head for the first time.
Its a no-pill baby, a baby that wants only milk,
placenta juice, its a lump-free baby
and I saw it born.
I massage into your hands,
your feet,
messages from my brain to yours
I sing lullabies:
Smooth it all out
Smooth it all down
I want you to slide down smoothly
Smooth.
You still have some wreckage to fight,
You still have me to fight,
this baby full of pills
and overflowing bathtubs.
It went from the living room
to the attic,
this beast,
and in my pajamas, with my sword and flashlight,
I have climbed the steps
to fight it.
06/16/2006 Author's Note: just found out mom has cancer in the brain, after having her left lung removed. this is the only way i know how to communicate right now. i'm just shattered.
Posted on 06/17/2006
Copyright © 2024 Lisa Marie Brodsky
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 06/17/06 at 04:16 AM I appreciate your author's note. A most excellent poem about this very personal struggle. I can't tell who the "her" is, but I wish her well. |
| Posted by Vere Mantratriad on 06/21/06 at 04:14 AM This is heartbreaking. There are some things we can only approach as a child. I wish you and yours well. |
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