Things Happen; They Just Do

Lorena Love Brothers

A truth to share with you

 

The word alone confused me when he told me

I wasn’t sure what it all meant

I only knew that I felt exhausted

The throbbing on my left side was what I imagine being stabbed feels like

I am only 22, I thought to myself

I wanted to have six kids

I loved my long wavy hair

I felt robbed of my freedom to live without worries

I quickly stood up to leave

I made believe I was deaf; “I wasn’t”, his words echoed

 “This is serious, it will spread rapidly”

I walked out. My eyes swollen from the streams that filled them

Things Happened

I ran through the rainforest barefoot, stood beneath the waterfalls gasping for air

I made believe that those were my last moments

I lounged in the Puerto Rico sun for some time.

I tried to forget but the pain wouldn’t allow for it

The thought of it growing in my body disgusted me

I was disturbed

I saw a butterfly flap her wings and I knew I had to go back

Things Happened

I wandered the streets of Buenos Aires

It was a calming place, full of culture

I felt the wind, I felt the sun, I felt the beauty

I danced, I ate, I wrote, I lived

The sick days in between robbed me of my joy

Things Happened

Feeling scared and unprepared

The feelings I did not share

Cancer was my war

That I could not ignore