Guess it is true until my last breath—
this real partnership with Death,
lying with all that is still true
about this life that wants to renew.
Ever since that Friday phone call,
how it then changed it all—
how Cancer is along for the ride,
no longer a secret choosing to hide.
Life and death, both sides of the coin—
a lifetime membership I now join;
carry it with me from day to day,
always only six months away.
From another sharp, invasive test,
still hoping for the best,
in a fragility of good news—
not the future I would ever choose.
To think I once tried suicide,
then was so thankful I had not died—
only to find Death stayed onboard,
his fingers still gripping the cord.







