originally for Ana.

for ana who lost her left breast at 4:23am Tuesday morning

breast cancer doesn't care if your 38 and ordered demi bras from the Fall issue of Victoria's Secret Catalog.

Or that the oaken tree outside your Grandparents home held a wooden swing whose ropes made marks on

your forearm. I had written a poem about survival, one of those "bearing witness m***********s" filled

with valorized testimony. Some real, heavy "Rocky Balboa against all odds s**t, but had to finish it

before the microwave beeped, as I opened the metal door to the smallest light in the world.

Recalled how Danny snuck a squeeze between roller coaster rides and elephant ears. It was so easy

to tell when you were pleased. But the day hurts a little brighter when we are stupid; when truth

and attestation are just secret names for being brave. Breastless is not branchless. Trees make

for such terrible analogies for our collective trauma, as we have all promised not to stare. Not

to pick from it's fragmented possibilities. Not to shade ourselves beneath  it's sorrow.

dana

Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

This cannot be reviewed using just simple words. It comes from so deep inside that it clutches at the heart. I read today Sir Richard Francis Burton felt that some thoughts came from the being rather than the mind. I can find no fault in that. Especially after reading this. This is not just poetry; this is education in life.

[h d e rushin]

for the person who writes poetry Ken, sometimes words are all we have to offer. Thank you so much for stopping by my friend....dana

[Cory Barrett]

6 months ago my sister, 30 years old, was diagnosed with stage 2 uterine cancer. You wrote down perfectly the conversation she and I had in the days leading up to the truth. The truth that now that she will live, she will have to do it without children.

We can all be greater than we ever imagine, but bravery hurts.

[h d e rushin]

cancer, like love Cory, makes a person crazy. Even witnessing it cant be measured in emotions how ever cultivated and proper they are. Bravery does hurt my friend. Thanks for those insights..

dana

[Alex Boyd]

This is deep and a most read piece.... I like the raw approach and the imagery you drew with your words... I felt your sorrow, your happiness, your anger, I felt all the emotions that you written. I hope for survival and the eerie feeling of death... I felt the lonesomeness when you wrote "Breastless is not branchless. Trees makes for such terrible analogies for our collective trauma, as we all promised not to stare." To me that single line spoke volume... It spoke truth about life and how when something tragic happens when as human point and gossip causing the victim to feel some type a way but at the same time the victim needs some type of reaction for if not he/she suffering in no longer relevant... Good work my fellow writer....

[h d e rushin]

thank you Alex for stopping by my friend. And it's so true how suffering screams for our attentionread morethank you Alex for stopping by my friend. And it's so true how suffering screams for our attention
instead of our pandering; sympathy instead of our noisiness. Thanks for those insightful words
dear sir......dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

but in a sense some women are stronger than the strongest oak...and after all the body is cosmetics....and what is inside is what seems most beautiful, most perfect, regardless of the branches...

this is a beautiful and stirring tribute to the courage that some people have to deal with adversity...and how important the support of friends can be.

[h d e rushin]

thank you Jacob for those kind words my friend. But sometimes all the poet has to offer
are words.. Not remedy. So words will just have to do..dana