tomcairnspoetry

lymphoma haikus

June 2018

These haikus were written between October 2017, when Aby was diagnosed with a rare lymphoma, and June 2018, when she died. Thanks are due to my sister Sally, who suggested writing haikus as a way for all the family to process what was happening x

 

–––––

 

you're a special case

one in a million they say

we already knew

 

–––––

 

through this winter we

both widen round the middle

twin cancer babies

 

–––––

 

we know you will die

and yet you feel so alive

i choose the feeling

 

–––––

 

another missed step

frustration furrows your brow

then you smile again

 

–––––

 

soft time in the sun

our garden busy with people

dogs tea and ice cream

 

–––––

 

a few high-pitched breaths

silence stretches between them

then settles like snow

 


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About me

I'm an Anglo-Irish web developer, father of five, company director and (evidently) a poet of sorts.

My inspiration comes from the beautiful Cotswold countryside I inhabit and explore, the intricate mysteries of the people I have loved, and the daily miracle of being a living, breathing, always changing consciousness – a point of view through which the universe looks upon itself.

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