My friend has just

been diagnosed

with cancer and

I am here miles away

thinking of her

and contemplating

the providence

of my own life.

 

For sickness has

not yet touched

this mortal frame

that I drag around

with me every day.

 

Yet for her,

whose body is

scarred with

sickness’ deft hand,

there is no certainty

that her mortal frame

will drag her anywhere

much at all.

 

How fortunate am I,

with this body

that gives me its

permission to walk

and commune

with all of nature’s

grand and humble art,

and skip and jump

and run as far

as I like.

 

I am thinking of

my friend who has

to face the surgeon’s knife

and recovery’s despair;

and I wish, no, I pray,

that she will

once again feel the

vitality and hope

that is a fleeting

part of life.

 

13/11/2016