Why Do I Smile?
(Chemotherapy, No. 6b)
Why do I smile
As the poison drips down
Into me?
I do though;
I need it.
I cannot fight the cancer
By wishing it not to be there.
And so I smile,
Grateful for these drops.
How different and strange -
A smile accompanied
Poison-into-me -
For all the right reasons.
-CS Lathrop
21/08/2023