Words


Daddy

That’s a word I haven’t used

in a while.

But lately it has been slipping

from my lips like

paper on the wind,

floating through my mind

and resting in my heart

which has been slowly

dripping lead into the

pit of my stomach

ever since I heard the word Daddy

coupled with another word.

Cancer.

That word has brought on a torrent of

words

that have flooded my world

ever since.

Pancreas, surgery, the Whipple procedure,

prognosis, survival rates, chemo, radiation,

treatments, hospital stays, stage and spread,

next of kin, living will, pathology report, and

on and on.

Too many words.

My head is heavy.

I worry, wait, and wonder

as I long to hear the word

Daddy

coupled with another word.

Remission.