The RetroLounge Daily Poem Thread (Sun 12/21/2008)

[RetroLounge]

At the Cancer Clinic

She is being helped toward the open door
that leads to the examining rooms
by two young women I take to be her sisters.
Each bends to the weight of an arm
and steps with the straight, tough bearing
of courage. At what must seem to be
a great distance, a nurse holds the door,
smiling and calling encouragement.
How patient she is in the crisp white sails
of her clothes. The sick woman
peers from under her funny knit cap
to watch each foot swing scuffing forward
and take its turn under her weight.
There is no restlessness or impatience
or anger anywhere in sight. Grace
fills the clean mold of this moment
and all the shuffling magazines grow still.

Ted Kooser

*************

:hi:

RL

[blueraven95]

1. morning, Retro

I've lost a couple close family friends to cancer in the last few months, one of which I really thought would make it, and this poem is actually making me cry. Sorry, that's probably not what you want to hear with your current situation. :hug:


I wish this poem gave the ill woman more...something...I can't quite find the word for - vitality, maybe? All the cancer-stricken people I have known are so wonderfully alive, even as they are fading away. I'm not sure I'm getting it quite right, but it's the best I can do. :cry:


:hug:

[RetroLounge]

2. I liked the ending...

There is no restlessness or impatience
or anger anywhere in sight. Grace
fills the clean mold of this moment
and all the shuffling magazines grow still.

I think grace is what I would want...

:hug:

RL

[blueraven95]

3. yeah...

you are right...grace is what everyone hopes for I think, at least a bit.



:hug:

[RetroLounge]

5. Don't get me wrong...

I would take "so wonderfully alive" too.

:hug:

RL

[blueraven95]

11. of course!

I have a really good feeling about your mom. I think she's going to be fine. :hug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. ~

:hi:

[RetroLounge]

6. ...

:hi:

RL

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. ~

:(

[Dystopian]

7. Beautiful....

There is no restlessness or impatience
or anger anywhere in sight. Grace
fills the clean mold of this moment
and all the shuffling magazines grow still.

Retro, somehow I knew what this poem would be about before I clicked....although I could have been wrong.

I remember bringing my mother...and sitting there during her chemo.
I dusted off two old books that somehow I never had the time to read during my 'busy' life. For Whom the Bell Tolls and To Kill a Mockingbird....I started the biography of Malcolm X, and from several years back, I recall the page folded over where I ended.

Blessings and love to you and your family.
And the words of my dear elderly Quaker friend and mentor:
Hope. Patience. Peace.
:hug:

peace~

[RetroLounge]

9. Thank you...

:hug:

RL

[Callalily]

8. Very appropriate poem

considering the circumstances.

Please don't forget tough bearing of courage part.

:hug:

[RetroLounge]

10. You got it...

:hug:

RL

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. This is so beautiful, my dear Retro...

Courage to your mom...and you...

:hug:

[RetroLounge]

14. ...

:hug:

RL

[lizziegrace]

13. I've seen that grace

My friend Susan, who's only a year or two older than us. She's my hero and I tell her every time I talk to her.

:hug:

Nice choice for today Retro. There's hope here...

[RetroLounge]

15. ...

:hug:

RL

[RetroLounge]

16. kick

:kick:

RL

[Chorophyll]

17. ...

What an amazing poem. I've been a reader at a literary magazine for the past year, and I've seen my share (unfortunately) of cancer poems, but none quite like this one. It captures such a small moment so beautifully.

Abundant vibes to RetroMom. Tell her she has the full support of the DU Lounge.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[RetroLounge]

18. Thank you...

:hug:

RL