Six hagstones

Six new hagstones, Mother's Day
one for every Bean
drawn and inked by Lee the star
Best hagstones ever seen
Symbols of longevity
crafted by the sea
Of love and fortitude and zest
for everyone and me

©Jemverse

Work in progress

One thing they don't tell you
is that Chemo's pretty shite
If they did no one would do it
and there'd never be the fight
at least not one where poison
is pumped into your body
followed by three weeks of drugs
insidious and shoddy

And yet still here with cancer
it's a choice which must remain
as you're always in the driving seat
and the most to lose or gain
I made the choice to leave it
two infusions; six weeks in
as it took away the best of me
stopped me being; stopped my grin

That was right and right for me
the opposite for others
such is hindsight's privilege
and the knowledge that it smothers
Ten days followed, painful, long
and the allegory of that choice
from the car crash of withdrawal
I now embrace and yes, rejoice

For though still a work in progress
another change has taken place
and one that's for the better
as you can see from gait and face
The CT scan at end of month
will go ahead as planned
But for the moment chemotherapy
in this body is now banned.

©Jemverse

[When, five months ago I was faced with  two choices – three months, or chemotherapy and the chance  of more, that’s kind of a no brainer. But, there’s also quality of life to think about. That might  mean a shorter time. But a qualitative life has so much added value and is absolutely the only choice for me. So that’s the path I’ve now taken. ‘Joie de vivre!’]

Arrival 7

7 of 12 in the ’12 months VII’ series

A daffodil to greet the month
birth flower for first of March
as here we greet the cuckoo
and the primrose and the larch
Spring pops up in every corner
to awaken and appease
the doldrums of the winter
as it does its best to please

©Jemverse

I am the one in four revisited

I am the one in four
leaping through the years
my letters match my value
unique, so it appears
I'm the plus-one to the three six five
my invitation rare
tagged on as February twenty-nine
a tetrad seldom there.

©Jemverse

Skin and bone

I now know the meaning of all skin and bone
and it's not something I would choose to condone
for I've lost so much weight it's now bothering me
and as part of this illness scarce solution I see

I've not been this light since I was a lad
and that in itself is making me sad
The answer of course is to eat more but there
is the rub and the root I'll gladly here share

For though I'm still eating I've poor appetite
which I think is the drugs and other such shite
and combined together with all that ensues
boils down to the problem and catch twenty-two

They'll tell you of course it's mind over matter
But I can attest right here that illusion to shatter
for it's one of the hardest things to get started
when you've been kicked and your life has been shafted

©Jemverse

Scaffolding

Outside my window the scaffolding blight
is getting annoying and hiding the light
It's been up too long and there in  our sight
and long overdue to be gone

The roof and the leading weeks ago done
yet still it is here to block out the sun
It's time for the scaffolding people to come
as it's long overdue to be gone

So we had a pop, played the old access card
told them quite clear that it made it hard
to have scaffolding up to manoeuvre when marred
so it's long overdue to be gone

©Jemverse

(some of it has now gone, but some still remains even now!)

Good form

Last Sunday, not a good day
thoughts were swirling, caught me up
needed rest and got it
but this remains a bitter cup
Some days it just gets like that
comes in from the left field
and though I do my best to counter
it's hard to stand and not to yield

So when it comes I do my best
to think of other things
Play music, write a poem
remember my heart sings
Most days these are unusual
thank goodness, not the norm
as most days like today of course
I'm me and in good form

©Jemverse

Music the great healer

Been through all my vinyl
got them into plastic sleeves
protection from the dust and grime
that passing time it leaves
Cathartic, it was wholesome
remembering the time
when I purchased each and brought them
home when they were all then mine

And now I have a flight case
with a selection waiting there
to play on my turntable
and with some others share
Music, the great healer
it is a remedy to cure
or at very least bring respite
as its purpose is so pure

©Jemverse

Six mile loop

I have a six mile loop
which I know well of course
I've walked it many times before
as it's a conquering force

It does me proud, does not take long
and in a circle door to door
it's something to return to
which I have and will do more

When of course now is the question
as this illness won't allow
me to move at present very far
which limits me somehow

But I need to as there's promise
I made last year to write
a route guide to my six mile loop
to provide a just insight

And allow them too to take it in
see the beauty that I see
and experience the six-miler
in a similar way to me

So it's become a milestone target
something I'll achieve somehow
returning to the six-mile loop
I here attest and vow

©Jemverse

Gratitude

If it wasn't for my wife and children
I am not sure where I would be
as it's purely for their devotion
that I'm anywhere now actually

It's unreserved and complete and boundless
given freely, born fully of grace
and I have no words that would carry
the thanks I'd like to embrace

I've accepted (though it's taken a while)
that I'm ill and in need of their care
but the spades by which that's been given
is way beyond all to compare

So these few words by very small token
I just had to write down today
to express in inadequate measure
my gratitude here in some way

©Jemverse