Could Be Music — A Wildfire Poem
I am here.
I’ve learned to appreciate stillness
and that it’s not just reserved for confinement
in a chair (hooked up to an IV or a computer – doesn’t matter).
Stillness is allowed (even though it doesn’t seem like it).
I will be still and let the world continue around me.
This way:
The nurses could be fellow tourists/your family/chipmunks.
The beeping could be clinking glasses/laughter/crickets.
The fluid moving through the IVs could be music/joy/ripples on a lake.
Now I aim for the same stillness anywhere and remind myself it’s good to be anywhere.
Katie Stewart — Diagnosed at 33. IDC, Stage IIa, Triple Negative. Then Stage IV at age 35. Katie is 36 and is trying to figure out her new life with MBC during a pandemic. She lives with her partner and her dog in Oshawa, ON. She enjoys gardening, macrame, painting, and taking selfies with every dog she meets. Her goal is to make the world just a little bit better, whenever she can. • @knrs
This piece has been republished with permission from WILDFIRE Magazine, the “MBC: Stage IV Survivorship” issue, published originally October 9, 2021. More information available at wildfirecommunity.org
WILDFIRE Magazine is the only magazine for young women survivors and fighters of breast cancer under 45 years old. Headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, WILDFIRE is a beautiful, story-based bi-monthly magazine published on different themes relevant to young women survivors, from stage 0 to stage IV. Beautiful and ad-free! Visit wildfirecommunity.org for more info.
