National Poetry Month - Celebrating Poet Joan Ellen Gage.

It's National Poetry Month. My goal this year is to celebrate southern and Appalachian poets. I called for poems that celebrate life itself, poems that especially honor human life and the human spirit.  

Today, Here Above the Frost Line, we celebrate poet Joan Ellen Gage. She lives part of her year in Florida and the rest in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She has two collections:  Water Running Downhill and Embracing Your Inner Cheerleader.

BY DESIGN

by Joan Ellen Gage

What is a breast?

It is, by design, in its simplest form

A source of nourishment

A literal “fountain of youth”

A breast is an ornament

Of the flesh, ascetically varied,

Rounded, pillowed, or arched

An achingly beautiful sculpture of nature

A breast is a haven

For comforting small humans

Or sheltering family and friends

With arms and bodies enfolded tightly, as in prayer

A breast can also give or receive

Pleasure, with our partners

As active participants

In the mating dance of life

A breast is the epitome of the heart

Of womankind, as with our breasts

We nurture, comfort, and love.

That is why we hold them so dear

Through breast cancer, women may

Lose these deeply personal pieces

Of their flesh, that share so much

And give succor to life

But, we must remember that

Women are the origin of strength

In this world, and with or

Without breasts, we are the same!

We will still nurture

We will still comfort

And we will still love

We will do this, by design

from Water Running Downhill

For Tina and all of her sisters

The Invader Within

by Joan Ellen Gage

Was the cause environmental,

Or was it family genetics?

How did this happen?

Perhaps, it was just karma

Bringing me this dark, unwanted gift

This cancer

The alien DNA

Hidden in the structure

Of the genome

Its time bomb releasing

Microscopic invaders burrowing

Into tissue, my tissue

Facing myself in the mirror,

Today, chopping long dark hair

Shorter, and shorter still

Wondering who is this stranger

Who stares back

Stone-faced and resolute?

I begin this deeply personal

Uphill battle, or is it downhill?

Warrior stance—I am ready

“Let’s do this!” to my husband

We travel silently to chemo

Unspoken words blowing through

Our minds like autumn leaves

He holds my hand as we begin

IV dripping, we watch morning TV

Oblivious to the screen, thoughts

Still flowing, overflowing, synchronized

With the IV releasing the drug/poison

I will it to find the interloper

“Seek out the alien intruder, now!”

Many weeks have passed, now

Time has slowed to a turtle’s pace

I have sat in that recliner

Many hours, with needle piercing my flesh,

Chemo flowing, a soft cap covering the baby fuzz

Where my hair used to be

I turn my mind inward, pray and give thanks

Liquid ninja’s course through my veins

“Finish it”, I pray, “amen”.

from Embracing your Inner Cheerleader

For Sheryl and all her sisters

More about the author - click on her site.

http://www.joanellengage.com/

Comments and words of encouragement that celebrate poetry

during this special time of year will be appreciated. Below.