Sixteen Rounds of Chemo

Sara Pirkle

__________

After a nurse plucked
the IV from my port
like a wasp stinger
and the rubber-tire taste
of Taxol faded—

After the victory
picture was snapped
and posted online
for hundreds of
strangers to like—

After fake smiling
while a chorus
of nurses serenaded
as I dutifully rang
the treatment bell—

I sank into the gravity
of my twin sister’s car
and watched bare trees—
grey as veins—cower
in the January wind—

knowing my tumor
was growing again
and in six hours
the bone aches and
vomiting would begin—

my body host to
one hell of a party—
a drunken rebellion
of malignant cells
fighting for their lives.

__________

Sara Pirkle is a Southern poet, an identical twin, a breast cancer survivor, and a board game enthusiast. Her first book, The Disappearing Act (Mercer University Press, 2018), won the Adrienne Bond Award for Poetry. She also dabbles in songwriting and co-wrote a song on Remy Le Boeuf’s album, Architecture of Storms, which was nominated for a 2023 GRAMMY. She is an Associate Director of Creative Writing at The University of Alabama.