cancer

poetry by SamiraJune 16, 2020

Cancer

Cancer I wrote down her diagnosis So I could learn it Control it Manipulate it somehow As though deleting it from the page Would release her I wrote down her diagnosis So I could memorize it So I could feel close to her Protect her Fix her I wrote down her diagnosis But the words […]

poetry by SamiraJanuary 9, 2019January 9, 2019

Face cream

My mom mixed me this fancy lotion She took all her face creams Her favorite ones Mixed them all up In a fancy jar And gave them to me That was two years ago I use it sparingly So it lasts forever Like I hope she lasts forever Because I cannot bear to think of […]

Uncategorized by SamiraSeptember 8, 2018June 16, 2020

Disease

Author’s note: this was written while my beloved mother was in the depths of chemotherapy, a punishing treatment for a punishing disease. Her outlook, progress, and my own have come a long way since then, and we find ourselves in better spirits. Hope abounds as the journey continues, but any light, love, and healing energy […]

poetry by SamiraSeptember 2, 2018

Ride

I cried at the end of the bike ride As the virtual instructor yelled at me to push “Rise up!” He said “Let your heart lift out of your chest! And rise up, let your heart carry you!” I pushed Pedaling hard All of the months and years Rattling in my head As it battled […]

poetry by SamiraAugust 21, 2018August 22, 2018

Walk

Walk closer to me So I can see your face Speak closer to me So I can hear your voice Be honest with me So I can feel your spirit Where did you go On the night all was lost Where did you hide When we all held vigil and cried Where have you gone […]

poetry by SamiraAugust 18, 2018August 22, 2018

Untouchable

We think we are untouchable It’s the way that we survive The things that ail our counterparts Will never cease the way we thrive We think we are entitled To laugh and joke all day Our belief we are untouchable Keeps all our fears at bay No one is untouchable Pain is always steps away Your guard falls […]

poetry by SamiraAugust 17, 2018

Ancestral Voices

I don’t pay enough attention when she speaks Her voice so sweet Like a song Washes over me Like in a trance I fade away But what if her voice is gone What will wash my soul

poetry by SamiraAugust 17, 2018August 17, 2018

On sadness, with love

I am profoundly sad A shell of who I was. Just a week ago Hope was renewed But now I sit Empty again

short stories by SamiraAugust 16, 2018February 23, 2019

She didn’t have her lipstick on

My mom has breast cancer. What a crap thing to have to write down. I know most people probably think their mothers are magic, but mine really is. You see, just a few years ago, I had a brain tumor and the day we found it she clasped her hands around my head as I […]