Courage

So what have you got courage for since cancer's stormy blast’s
Swept over you and tossed you round till peace returned at last?
Is it some thing you've put off, thought ‘There'll be a time some day’?
Or something new, emerging fresh, some better, other way?

Are there some things from journey there which you would like to share?
Or is it more the dross is gone, and clear is now the air?
Have friendships new emerged for you which take new space in life?
Or have you found old friends around who walked you through your strife?

Has resolution risen up ‘to strive, to seek, to find?’
Have ‘old acquaintance long forgot’, been brought by this to mind?
Are days of old now laid to rest, the bitter with the sore?
And do the days which lie ahead hold hope's abundant store?

So many questions now rise up, now cancer's come and gone;
For some it's just a part of life, now's time to move along;
For others it's far more than that, new life has found its place,
And we're freed up to carry on refreshed in human race.

Still others feel they must turn back, hold hope, assistance out
To those who follow on behind, engulfed in tumult, doubt.
For me, I ‘touch of cancer’ had, not really much to share
Except, “Get screened”, and “Stay alert” and “Early fix what's there”.

I have some thoughts about the mess our health-care system's in,
And tendency of folks to hide their errors, slips, and sin;
But hey! We're all caught up in that, must help each other out,
And when it happens to someone, pay heed, and give a shout.

For me, it's served to clear away huge chunks of early mess,
Thus freed me up to move along, and other things address.
Health-care is not for me a task that's high priority –
But freed up, I return to tasks quite critical for me.

It's not that I can fully see what's just around the bend;
More, that this is a time of change – transition's at an end.
It's scary, been away from swirl of life a while it seems
But heck, in light of what's now past – the future brighter gleams.

Excited now about what's next, though dragging still a bit,
I rise this morning, see the dawn, and laugh because of it –
It carries on, sun rises up and sets through all this strife,
And pours on us life-giving rays, and bids ‘re-enter life’.

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