Radiation Therapy: A Baptism
Radiation Therapy: A Baptism
I wear a white robe
It billows on the water
The pastor pinches my nostrils
His palm covers my mouth
The water holds me
The ones I love are with me
I take Jesus into my heart
The tumor is over my heart
Plastic plugs hold my nostrils
A plastic tube in my mouth
I listen for the voice
On the intercom
Take a deep breath
and hold it
I inhale and lift my ribcage
Light soaks my chest
The great machine takes me
Deep into the wilderness
No one can come with me
You can breathe
****
Take a deep breath
and hold it
I summon a river
A rippling current
And halos of light
The Holy Spirit descends
As a heron
O Spirit stay with me I plead
The voice calls me back
You can breathe
And I breathe.
8 thoughts on "Radiation Therapy: A Baptism"
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nice description of baptism
Tina, that last stanza is heart wrenching. I love the parallel descriptions in this poem – one beautiful, non-threatening experience (the pastor pinching your nose, hand over your mouth; the water holding you, Jesus as light) and the other clinical, frightening (plugs on your nose, tube in your mouth; you holding your breath, the radiation light soaking you). It is brilliant!
Clear images that grab the reader and promise not to let go for a long, long time.
Good to have a poem about a common experience.
Thank you so much for posting 🙂
Thank you, Kathleen. I was trying to play with that tension. It’s not easy to write about, to say the least.
“The Holy Spirit descends
As a heron”–wow!
Tina, thanks for sharing your vulnerability and for these powerful comparisons! <3