DanceswithwordsAll writers please assist.
November 25th 2006 03:59
I want to do something for a friend of mine who has been recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. At 22, she has already lived an incredibly hard life. She has struggled through and somehow survived countless episodes of trauma, abuse and neglect. I can never express in words the admiration I have for this woman, she has been through so much but has managed to become more beautiful, more compassionate and more loving despite (or perhaps because of) all she has suffered.
I want, nay need, the help of all the writers here. I need it because this person is beginning to lose hope (and if you have known anyone who has endured a disease of this ilk, you know mental state can play quite a big role). I want to write a poem imbued with as many different perspectives and reasons to survive as I possibly can. I want to know why you keep going on, why you continue to fight, why you struggle against a cruel providence or a merciless chance. I want to know how you retain your faith, your hope in this life after witnessing the depth of the abyss. I don’t need eloquence. I don’t need it to be poetic or articulate. I just need it to be real. Please add on your reasons via a comment. Thanks for your time.
These are our reasons:
The wonder evoked within the minds of the liberated,
The love caressed within the heart of boundless truth,
The laughter dancing within the soul of real friendship,
The strength resounding within the spirits of the anguished,
The divine awoken within the beauty of human creation.
The courage displayed by those who choose compassion,
The wisdom portrayed by those who always question,
The faith depicted by those who can freely accept,
The inclusion shown by those who embrace difference,
The valor displayed by those who seek hope amidst the ruins.
I want, nay need, the help of all the writers here. I need it because this person is beginning to lose hope (and if you have known anyone who has endured a disease of this ilk, you know mental state can play quite a big role). I want to write a poem imbued with as many different perspectives and reasons to survive as I possibly can. I want to know why you keep going on, why you continue to fight, why you struggle against a cruel providence or a merciless chance. I want to know how you retain your faith, your hope in this life after witnessing the depth of the abyss. I don’t need eloquence. I don’t need it to be poetic or articulate. I just need it to be real. Please add on your reasons via a comment. Thanks for your time.
These are our reasons:
The wonder evoked within the minds of the liberated,
The love caressed within the heart of boundless truth,
The laughter dancing within the soul of real friendship,
The strength resounding within the spirits of the anguished,
The divine awoken within the beauty of human creation.
The courage displayed by those who choose compassion,
The wisdom portrayed by those who always question,
The faith depicted by those who can freely accept,
The inclusion shown by those who embrace difference,
The valor displayed by those who seek hope amidst the ruins.
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
So it's not for some sort of noble reason, nor does it appeal particularly to emotion, as many of your quotes above appear to.
...
This is a horrible thing to say, but I don't think it's rational to want to live or die. I think it's just a choice that one makes. You look into the abyss, and the abyss looks back, and the absolute liberation from any reason to do anything is either enormously freeing, or enormously burdening.
Comment by Nina
TV Babble
Comment by Homer Joyce
You’re less than half my age.
I’m not female.
I don’t have a womb.
I don’t have cancer.
But we do have one thing in common:
Having to hope against hope itself.
What makes me hope against hope?
Only Faith. The firm conviction that by finally putting an end to my life, I will not only put an end to all hope, I will send myself somewhere worse; to a place where real despair starts; a place where despair will never end, and meet its friend, the worm remorse.
For what we experience here is not true despair, unless we give in to it; it is merely the discouragement that leads to despair. Giving in to despair is like giving into temptation. It doesn’t really go away at all; it just changes its guise or form, and often for the worse.
Faith has prevented me from doing what I was sorely tempted to do so often.
It might not sound very positive, but it has worked for me on countless occasions.
If everything in this life was positive we wouldn’t have electricity, and I wouldn’t be able to send you this electronic message. I’d rather find the positives out of negatives than pretend negatives don’t exist, or try to eliminate them from other people’s vocabularies.
And because of Faith, I had the opportunity to hear an anecdote a friend told me about the devil’s garage sale:
The devil had a garage sale. Every item he uses to damn souls to eternal despair were up for sale. Most of the items were around $20. One had a price tag of $1M. A curious shopper plucked up the courage to ask him, ‘Why is that particular item so expensive compared to all of the others?’ The devil said, ‘That’s the instrument I use to damn the most souls with.’ ‘Oh,’ the curious shopper said. ‘What’s it called?’ The devil replied, ‘It’s called discouragement.’
So, friend of ChrisM,
Here’s hoping you never give up hope. You’ve probably had to give up enough already.
Homer ...
Comment by Lily
Bohemians United
Ars Poetica
a poem right now, would be too hard.. but If i may bear my heart and go back in time a little; i hope it may help.
I too was diagnosed with cervical cancer, i was 25. a long time ago it seems now. i was one of the fortunate ones to have laser surgery which removed all traces, although i'm still not sure to this day if it was the surgery itself, or all my hopes of having children that i embedded into my heart and clung to, that healed me.
the cancer 'tried' to return, but after more surgery, i was clear again... it's my story, but i hope it becomes hers too, in some way -- inadequate words on my behalf, but my heartfelt prayers are with your friend...
~Lily
Comment by Bullamakanka
Hughie's Ziff
Bagman's Gazette
Several years ago I had a heart attack. People said that that was it, my life was shot.
My response was, well, how can I put it? Sorry there is no other way to put it, My response was "Bugger that for a lark, as long as I'm breathing I ain't dead."
Since then I have buitl a house, with my own hands. Been a solar power consultant, managed a diploma of arts, raised two kids, and managed to stay alive.
Your friend is not alone and that is the greatest asset she can have. She has friends that care.
Give Up, Never
Comment by The Voices in my Head
The Voices in my Head
All I know is that this is another battle you must face in a life littered with the remains of past struggles. Imagine yourself walking away from the battleground as the remnants of cancer lay bloodied and beaten, -(and cruelly and savagely dead)- behind you. Not only imagine it, visualize it and believe it.
I am not enduring a struggle with cancer but as we all do, I have my own battles recently that feel like I am down for the count. What keeps me going is just knowing that this too, shall pass. The truth is that you can not spend precious time, focus and energy worrying about what will come or be. It will anyway. I just focus on living. I do something for someone, I read, I write, I do things I enjoy when the battles come and it always gets me through it.
May peace be with you,
Voices~
Comment by Anonymous
ChrisM, my sister survirved cervical cancer, and seems to be getting on with life in all its manifestations, ordinary and miraculous. My father also survived prostate cancer.
A good starting point for poetry is "do not go gentle into that good night' by Dylan Thomas. And because you asked for them, below is my humble (though Ego-driven) effort
Around The Corner
Around the corner, my family waits,
My joy, my sadness, my world.
Like water on a long, thirsty day,
I must be with them.
Around the corner is an answer,
To all the questions I ever ask.
Knowledge must fill me to the brim,
Fill my mind and heart with light.
Around the corner is the hidden meaning,
To the world, an outline of its true shape.
I want understanding, no relinquishing,
No letting it slide to silence.
Around the corner, it’s all there,
The next day and the next.
All I can do is put this foot in front of that,
And turn away from the darkness.
Australis 2006
Comment by Australis
The Scriptwriting Blog
Personal Blog - A Writer's Life
Comment by Anonymous
thomas
Comment by ChrisM
chris.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
is she still with us?
I know this all has happened,
all so long ago now,
but you never know.
So my two cents are thus;
you need ego to breathe,
and sometimes,
that becomes too damn hard.
It did for me, and I left,
gone...written off,
brain out,
yet against my will, I returned,
for what?
No I did not save the planet,
or become wealthy,
nor famous,
but I achieved things,
I once only talked about,
drunk in bars.
Like writing an opera,
directing for the stage,
designing my own show,
writing poetry for the first time,
drawing portraiture.
So, who knows...WE DON'T that is for sure!
So best do, what we have to,
here, day by day,
then comes the transition,
new life...not death,
but only if it comes naturally.......