Rochelle L. Colón

will flower even in the most unlikely places.

as they swirl around the inside of your mouth.

and over again because you will not be able

to understand me until you suck in my words

But ah! Now I am empty of the haunting madness!

So yes, this poem does belong to you now.

they touch the sky to feel the sun upon your shoulders.

I have flowered and bloomed many times in my lifetime

But this morning I sit and wonder as I write these words,

or are they just resting under the dirt for a while

But suddenly I realize that I cannot stop

these roots from spreading their knobby toes

just as I cannot stop all these swollen words

This post was written and submitted by Rochelle Rofey-Colón. The article reflects the views of Rofey-Colón and not of CURE®. This is also not supposed to be intended as medical advice.

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Articles

As a three-time cancer survivor, I wonder: are my roots damaged or resting to find their way?

Planting the Seeds of Words as a Cancer Survivor

I am a two-time cancer survivor. In 2000, I had cancer in my left breast, and in 2015, I had cancer in my right breast. Not only was there a burning pain from the radiation on the inside, but there was an agony in my heart and soul. However, there was always a hope for survival. And I did indeed survive. I was able to watch my daughter and son grow up, get married and bless me with three grandsons and two granddaughters. I was able to teach creative writing at a high school for many years and now I teach memoir writing to senior adults. I am submitting my poems because I feel it is important for not only breast cancer survivors, but also for anyone that might need hope if and when they ever have to go through this journey. I was never prepared for half of what I went through, but I got through it and I always will. This is me and this could be you.

I was supposed to be floating on the wind

But I am scared and I think I always will be.

And smelling just a hint of God as I pass by Heaven

This poem was originally submitted for the CURE® 2021 Poetry Contest.

How do you move on with life after cancer? A two-time breast cancer survivor expresses her hopes and fears in the form of a poem.

Moving Forward With Life As a Two-Time Cancer Survivor

There is a ferocious fire that makes me restless.

It is a fire within my fingers that spreads throughout my hands.

It is a fire within my eyes that burns across my face.

It is a flame that is leaping across this clean piece of paper

There is a ferocious fire that stares at me from a distance.

It connotes my desire to burn and destroy all at once,

And my desire to heal and create all at once

As it whips confusion and hope, cold and hot all together

There is this ferocious fire in a disguise against the night sky

But you can see it during the day as it wraps itself around me.

Its mask is broken as it is entering my scalp, consumes my hair,

It seduces my mouth and smolders the tiny sinews in my ears.

However, I am thankful for this crimson blaze,

For this fire is my life, my hope, my everything.

As it whips across this never-ending battlefield,

It is devastating and glorious all at once

For it is blue and it is red and it is me,

Peculiarly at this moment, there is a colorless stillness

And only at this moment, I am a bit at peace.

"There is a ferocious fire that makes me restless," writes a two-time cancer survivor in a poem about her experiences with breast cancer.

Rochelle L. Colón

Planting the Seeds of Words as a Cancer Survivor

Moving Forward With Life As a Two-Time Cancer Survivor

'Scorch,' A Poem About Cancer

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