Healing Wounds

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inCancer, Poetry, W3 Prompts, WritingTags:, , , , , , , , 
sneaker squeaks
linoleum floors
distant beeps
machine hums
fear curtailed under bright lights
wrapped in curtained walls

bandages
slowly counting steps
counting days
nature's rest
scar tissue's perseverance
heaven's endurance

existence
fickle yet bolder
striding near
holding dear
what wounds look like as they heal
faith, friendship, love, hope

This week’s Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt comes from Murisopsis, who asks us to do the following:

  • Write a Shadorma of a minimum of 2 stanzas on the topic of strength (physical, emotional, mental, ethical, or of character…)
    • A shadorma is a poem comprised of six-line stanzas with a syllable count of three syllables in the first line, five in the second, three in the third and fourth lines, seven in the fifth, and five in the sixth.

A couple days ago, I was fortunate to get to attend an amazing writing workshop put on by April Sterns of Wildfire Magazine, “the only magazine and writing community for the ones ‘too young’ for breast cancer”. If you’re a frequent reader of my blog, you know that I place a lot of importance in community for people going through a difficult experience or recovering from a trauma, and that I’ve even talked about it at my own workshop. The Wildfire community is one that I feel close to; even if I haven’t met any of these other writers-survivors in person, I’ve read their stories, I’ve followed them on Instagram, and I relate to much of what they share about their own cancer experiences. I hope to attend a Wildfire-sponsored event in person someday, but, in the meantime, I am glad to be a part of this community, even at a distance.

We were given three prompts during the workshop, with about ten minutes to write on each one, and then optional time to share some of what we wrote. The second prompt was “What wounds look like as they heal”, and that led me to a series of little phrases and sentences that I was able to transform into the shadorma you see above. The very process of healing is a transformation as well, which reminds me of this awesome song (and also awesome music video) by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of my favorite bands of all time. Rock on, readers.

21 thoughts on “Healing Wounds”

  1. I haven’t had the trauma of a devastating disease or physical challenge of the same kind as you. However, I have other injuries that I have had to spend years working on recovering from, and I count myself a survivor at this point. I’m healthier than I was afraid I could be and monitoring the area of injury is a requirement of the process. So it’s a good thing to learn how to look at the healing process without so much recoil, fear or rejection. I love that you found words to describe it in this way.

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  4. They say a break in a bone is stronger than the unbroken once it heals. I think too scars produce a strength that increases despite the trauma… I love the nod to fear and the conclusion that “faith, friendship, love, hope” are stronger than fear and wounds… A standing ovation from me!

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