Wonderland

    by Jackie Fox

When Cancer shoved you

through the rabbit hole

into the Kingdom of Dread,

there was so much to learn!

The River of Tears that all

must swim through

to gain entrance,

the secret language of Gemzar

and Taxotere, most magic

of poisons,

the clock’s hands stopped

at Treatment Time, until

your days wind down

to where Time can’t reach.

Most curious of all,

your body’s mad trajectory,

first growing larger with fluid,

then smaller, turning you at last

into the Cheshire Cat,

as you slowly dissolve

around your luminous

grin.

© 2012  Jackie Fox

Jackie Fox is a breast cancer survivor and writer who lives in Nebraska with her husband Bruce.  She has been published in several literary journals and two of her poems are included in the forthcoming book, The Untidy  Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets, by the Backwaters Press.  She blogs at Dispatch From Second Base.