Nurses and doctors dedicate their lives to saving -
they save lives, they save families; and they love it;
That's why Aviana used to think someday she would
become a nurse, too, the kind of nurse that works with
moms and babies! Whenever Brynn wanted to play the
doctor during pretend, Aviana would beg to be the nurse;
Together they would deliver babies and tell moms if their
babies were healthy in their bellies; Lilly liked to check in
patients with her princess coloring book and triangle-shaped
crayons, scribbling down all of their pretend information -
those were the best of times and Aviana loved it;
Now, well, it was the worst of times and she didn't
think she wanted to be a nurse anymore; in fact,
the idea of working in medicine made her physically
ill - she no longer wanted to save lives and help
families, or take care of babies; Aviana simply wanted
to live a simple, boring, plain life where nothing ever
happened, and nothing ever changed; and it would be
perfect - perfect and oh so predictable; reliable! safe!
Aviana dreamed of a future where she didn't have to
be a brave bird fighting an invisible monster all the time -
she dreamed of that too - time; she wanted more of it;
Those memories feel distant and far away, almost
as though they didn't belong to her, even though
it was certainly her face in them when she closed
her eyes after long days of treatment and car rides -
The little girl and her family started to think of their
life in two distinct parts: before cancer and after it;
Everything felt more than that to Aviana, the feeling
was more like she had become a new person entirely;
Life before cancer seemed to belong to someone else,
which made her feel like an alien in her skin; truthfully,
sometimes she couldn't tell if the cancer was foreign
or if she was the invader, and it made her ache for
the ability to forget this part of her childhood, if it were
to ever end; Aviana did not want the memories of
her cancer treatment following her around forever -
no! Aviana tells her parents all the time that she just
wants to grow so old that she never has to worry about
being sick like this again, and they just nod their heads.
YOU ARE READING
terminal
PoetryThis is an epic poem that tells the tale of Aviana - the middle sister in her family of five who is diagnosed with cancer at just six years of age. It will be a raw telling of how terminal illness wreaks havoc in the lives of those touched by it whe...
