A Decade Later

My mother is ten years cancer free today. This is a piece I wrote and submitted in my portfolio for my grad school applications. I love you mama. This poem is for you. 

The Worm

I didn’t know your name then,

But your blue greys, my sedative—

Your breasts, my world,

What I came to know best in those early months—

You, my milk machine,

I ate,

Swallowing all of your

White promises—

Thick milk dripped,

Suckled—

Ripe apples

Oozing their sweetness—

Somewhere,

Sometime between then

And now,

A worm ate its way into you

Rotting your flesh—

I ached to clean up the mess

But this was out of

My hands, out of

Your hands,

Into the doctor’s hands:

They sliced you up and cut

Pieces of you completely out

As if you were their re-creation.

Now, a scar swings up your side

From beyond your bellybutton

Curving up the battlefield

Where they saved you

But left you mangled—

Staring at your delicate body,

I learned your name then,

And all the meaning behind it.

by: Laura A. Illiano

(High School Graduation, June 2001)

Any comments or questions can be sent to my email: shapedbymylife@gmail.com. Thanks.