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I'm Becoming More Forgetful

by Jane Levin

I am becoming more forgetful.
Friends laugh
tell stories about
   misplaced keys
   forgotten names.
A few gently ask if chemo did this to me.
My doctor refers me for an MRI.

You don't understand.
For just one moment
I forgot that I
have/had/may have
       cancer.

		 
I have become a magician
watching in amazement
as fear disappears.
Sounds of audible delight escape
as the faint outline
of hope
materializes.

and as hope takes shape
remembering begins.

This poem was originally published in "Coping with Cancer Magazine," September/October 2006 Jane Levin is a retired psychologist, community worker and eight year survivor of ovarian cancer. Recent publications include: Terrain, Illness & Grace; Terror & Transformation, The Houston Literary Journal, Talking Stick, Drash: Northwest Mosaic and Dust & Fire. Her chapbook, Legacy, is scheduled for publication in April 2008. Jane welcomes your comments at: jjkiwi@gmail.com.