Song of My Breast
by Noralyn Masselink
Cover Art by Endira Davis
Radiation Oncology
drivers sit a spell
women knit
engrossed in talk shows
waiting room TV
Kincade puzzle lures a rare few
to fit a piece or two
of thousand-piece tranquility
sure to be left undone
long after we
with burns and damaged skin
have left the scene
patients meanwhile
don green gowns
(that never do tie in the back)
await our turn to climb up on the rack
heart frame our faces with upraised arms
and hum or pray or dream of sunny beaches
while gamma rays destroy our cells
so we can pick up and refit
the scattered edges of our lives
Table of Contents
Cancer
Context is everything
Northeast Medical Resort and Spa
Post-surgery Senryū
Nests
Two for the price of one
Saving Face and Keeping Abreast
ICD-9 Code 972.9
The Virgin Poke, central venous access
Port-A-Party
The Bald Facts
Haute Coiffure
Chemotherapy Riddle
Doxorubicin: Round Three
Why are they called “Rounds”?
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Cross Application
Blood Counts
In the time of chemo
Taxus brevifolia
Taxane Thumbscrews
Ungues
Euphemism at its worst
Morgue Storage Shelf
Awaiting Resurrection
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The Lives You Touch Publications
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