(August 28, 2002)

“Cancer cells are those that have forgotten how to
die.” — Nurse, Royal Marsden Hospital.

They have forgotten how to die
And so prolong the life that kills me.
My tumour and I are locked in a fierce struggle.
Let us hope a double death will finish us both.

I must see my tumour dead,
A tumour that forgets to die
While, on the other hand, it plots to kill me.

But I remember how to die,
Though all my witnesses are dead.
Yet I remember what they said
About tumours that would be surrounded.

As if they were blind and deaf
Before this disease appeared
That made this tumour the protagonist.

The black cells will shrivel and die
Or sing with joy and find their way.

They grow so quietly, day and night,