Ringlets

by Sue Robins

Be strong they said
Be brave they said
Be better than ever they said.

I was none of those.
I was as small as a six-year-old girl, on her tiptoes to reach the top of the counter, her hair in blonde ringlets, her face turned up and expectant, her heart still pure.

After months of turning away from my own suffering,
I found
It was only by feeling all the feelings,
Even the bad ones; especially the bad ones,
Before I did anything brave at all.

My only act of courage was to inch towards the little girl.
When I reached her, I held her tight
Thus becoming more myself.

 

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“Sue Robins was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago.  She’s a writer and mom who lives on the west coast of Canada.  Sue has been taking a poetry course as part of her healing and likes the way poetry seems to magically get right to the point of what she’s feeling.”