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The C-word

by Charlotte Jones

Cancer.
The word echoes
around the sterile walls
and lands with a thud
near your unbeating heart.
The dreaded C-word
takes on new meanings
when it's your word.
Crying.
Confusion.
Contempt for God.
And Chemo.
The C now defines
who you are.
You ask the heavens
"Why?"
and no answer makes sense.
Some days you get no answer at all.
Husbands leave.
Friends avert their eyes
but eventually
others step in to fill the 
wretched loneliness.
And unbelievably,
over time, 
the C-word
takes on a new meaning -

Cured.

Charlotte Jones is a two-time cancer survivor - a twenty-five year survivor of thyroid cancer and a one-year survivor of endometrial stromal sarcoma. She fills her days with creative writing, golfing and practicing tai chi and tries not to let cancer define her. She lives with her wonderful husband, who is a lung cancer survivor, in Houston , TX .