Thanksgiving

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Poem Commentary

A holistic diet and detox regimen works sometimes, I believe, and can help bring about a cure--perhaps in conjunction with more standard treatments. In my case, however, it didn't cure me. It may still have helped slow things down; I don't know. // I've detailed here much of my holistic diet, in hope it will benefit someone else. // But the poem is mainly about Thanksgiving and giving thanks for blessings, present and past.

Thanksgiving


Sight.  I can see the fallen, and the sparse tree-clinging, golden brown 
     leaves.
I can see the orange and gold light-fretted clouds of another sunset.
I hope to see the bouquet of beams of many another sunrise.
I look up at the sky at night; and then the sight of the once-believed
     eternal stars
Fills my heart with mystifying questions and moody magic, through my
     eyes.
I can see the dew-jeweled web that a life-hungry spider weaves.
I can wonder at the wonderful wild world the spider simultaneously
     gilds and scars.
And in my mind, so many images of things I've seen, I'll never forget.
A newborn baby opening its eyes on life for the first time.
The eyes of a friend that look on me with caring love, and with hope or
     prayer for my cure,
And with appreciation and understanding of my heart's voiced verses of
     rhythm and rhyme.
The deadly dark ink of certain inhumane philosophy texts sprinkled
     with snare-trap lights that lure.
Seeing is wonderful and beautiful; but seeing is not believing, when
     that means being absolutely sure.
But romantic, sweet erotic love--so decried by those who dislove life--is
     pleasureful, perfect, and pure.
The lovely sight of one's lover, the source of loving light and love's
     sweet heat from life's perfecting fire.
Primal source of newborn life; primary pleasure; prime bond of love
     between two lovers' hearts: Desire.
I dream of the living light in the eyes of every lover I have ever loved:
If the heart were the final arbiter, then by the light in lovers'
     eyes alone, God would have been proved.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sound.  Birdsong beautifying the clear sun-lit air.
Male birds, singing love to their lovely mates.
The sound of my own singing, made to break through closing despair;
As if I had power to charm the Fates.
Infant life, a beautiful precious baby, cloying my ears with its coo and
     cry.
The mother singing the magical love of a lullaby.
Who can hear the music of such love, and believe that living light must
     die?
I never could before; but now, the shadow of no tomorrow feels close
     by.
The sound of the wind whistling; the mechanical clock-sound of
     minutes as they fly.
The voice of every lover echoing in memory's ear,
Makes me yearn for love again, sweet so-called sin, blessed by the
     bright blue sky.
My love of life that tells me that I cannot really die.
I feel the fear of the passing year; and yet this heavy hope is here:
The aching love in my heart, that dreams I cannot disappear.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Scent.  Ah, the smell of roses!
A scent that in archetypical love of life reposes.
Yes, the honeysuckle, and the lilac, too; and the scent of every other
     flower.
The stirring sweet scent of a lover's hair.
To run my hands through those soft strands, I used to lose all sense
     of care.
The scent of my lover's skin, kissed with my passionate love, my
     loving that captured and kept--
Joyful and pleasureful--the terribly fleeting hour.
Then the scent of the fresh clean sheets on which we afterwards slept.
Death over life then seemed to flaunt no power.
Smells of all sorts--hot cocoa, percolating coffee, green tea, baking
     bread--
The smells of life, that make you glad you are not dead!
The smell of a new-mowed lawn.
The scent of our mother earth after rain.
Then there is no hint of horror; no searing fear, no sorrow, not even a
     pin-point of pain.
But in the rich luxuriant smells of life, as it dreams on,
God's love for us feels real; and every bitter gall falls to nothing, and
     is gone.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Taste.  Now I must eat broccoli, spinach, Romaine lettuce (not iceberg
     lettuce), and cauliflower.
Organic when I can.  It is holistically claimed such fare has
     preventative and even healing power.
Raw vegetables when possible--or lightly cooked, as in Chinese
     restaurants.  What have I got to lose?
Conventional medicine tells me nothing for my final end, except very
     bad news.
But my holistic physician says that I can shake cancer's present
     treatment-pains and future shocks,
With green leafy vegetables, carrots, sunflower seeds, and at least
     twenty-five walnut halves daily;
Berries and fruits, beans, other nuts and seeds, colostrum, and twice a
     day six drops of detox;
Esseniac tea; organic moringa tea; pomegranate juice or capsules,
     and some resveratrol--
And who knows?  Perhaps I can keep together my body and soul--
Keeping myself alive for my genetically gifted long life--
Which cancer threatens to cut in half like a slashing knife.
If I can get away from my chemical treatments, I may again please a
     lover, or may even joy a loving wife.
No processed sugar; stevia okay.  Sea salt.  Blueberries, pomegranates,
     peeled or organic apples, pears.
Bananas.  Goat yogurt, a quarter cup, sprinkled with four tablespoons of
     hemp hearts or hemp seeds.
No cheeseburgers or pizzas, that's for sure--no sodas, nor diet sodas--
     if I hope to lose my cancer cares.
If I hope to taste again the loving, living dream and pleasured life that
     a lover with his lover shares.
On one side, the foods my taste buds crave; on the other, the
     foods holistic thought says my body needs.
No steaks, chicken, or chops for which I wish; just salmon,
     cod, and other baked or broiled fish.
Boiled or poached eggs only; or, rarely, fried--and only if fried in
     olive oil or coconut oil or canola oil. 
For salad dressing, only extra virgin olive oil.  And a teaspoon of extra
     virgin coconut oil every meal--
Before or after.  All so the flesh that bounds reality will not spoil--so to
     keep living reality alive and real.
Ice cream!  Well, I'm not allowed that.  Goat and coconut milk, yes; no
     soy milk, and nothing bovine.
No real ice cream.  I can have goat yogurt or soy yogurt, or coconut
     oil, made like ice cream to seem.
Yes, I'll taste that when I can; and I will be glad and grateful.
My water must be mostly Ph balance 9.5; at least one-half ounce each
     day per pound of my weight.
I hope it all will save me from dying a cancer death too terrible for
     anyone to deserve, so fiercely fateful.
And not to die loveless--no lover to caress my loving--a hell
     my heart finds harsh and hateful.
Whatever happens--whether I get gripped by this kind of cancer's
     painful death, or get away clean:
I will be grateful to God for everything I have tasted, smelled, heard,
     touched, and seen.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Touch.  Ah, touch!  That's the one: the one that is most fun!
They may not literally feed among the lilies, but they are very hot.
Hot like the surface of the sun.
Lips on the tips; and then the lightning rips,
And tears through the clouds of doubt, despair, and hopeless fear.
To touch my lover, and feel her hands touch me, was to have heaven
     here.
Oh, God!  Grant me this, that before my life must expire,
I at least once more may feel such heavenly fire!
Indeed, I would not mind, if I must die, to die in love's desire.
If not, well then--as I slip early into tragic eternity--
I will try to die purely in sweet love's magic memory.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Facing death, and yet now still living,
With every breath, my heart still feels thanksgiving.

=========================================


--Written by Michael LP
aka MLP, aka Mr. Poet, aka PoetWithCancer, aka PWC
(I'm just me)
Written on Wednesday, November 4, 2009   12:53 pm PST
78° F.   Wind: SE 6 mph   Visibility: 10 mi
Humidity: 10%   Dewpoint: 17° F.   Barometer: 30.04 in and falling
High: 81° F.   Low: 54° F.   Sunrise: 6:06 am PST   Sunset: 4:41 pm PST
Copyright © 2010 by M.L.P.   All rights reserved

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abuelita1 commented on Thanksgiving

11-22-2010

I see, I taste, I smell the aromas, I feel and I give thanks for you Michael. Wanna taste?? If so, what do you want to taste?? ;-)

chadallac74 commented on Thanksgiving

02-15-2010

Thank you for strengthening my life... you are in thoughts and prayers.

lucindaclaire commented on Thanksgiving

11-28-2009

My dear Mr. Poet, I weep inside as I read your lines. How very moving and embarassing for all of us who complain about the mundane, everyday pain of arguments, bad holidays, lovers lost and lovers found. Know that however much time you are given to live, your words will live on after you've gone. Take good care and for heaven's sake, go out there and get yourself a big carton of your favoritre ice cream,. My favorite is called "Fat Elvis"---Banana ice cream with huge chunks of peanut butter cups and chocolate. This may not sound like good advice, but after caring for my mother with dementia over the past 16 months, I finally decided, "who cares if she has a glass of wine or a couple of cookies. That's what she likes and that is what she will have." Take good care, my friend. lucindaclaire

WordSlinger commented on Thanksgiving

11-26-2009

I admire this, thank you for posting all the wonderful things some people take for granted. A touching epic write, ty WS

lunamarie commented on Thanksgiving

11-24-2009

you see, you hear, you smell, you taste, you feel ... in all your poems ... with such passion ... thank you, M.L. ... my love, L.M.

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) American-English poet and playwright.

PoetWithCancer’s Poems (224)

Title Comments
Title Comments
Happy Winter Solstice 1
Seasonal Ring 1
My Thanksgiving 0
God's Word 1
Under the Date Tree 1
A Few More Times 1
Divine and Diabolical World 0
Summer-Brief 2
Seasonal Ring 0
Shakespeare's Birthday and Death 0
Special Brian 0
I Remember Brian 0
Light of Life 0
Pain Has Defeated Me Today 1
The Old, Old Words 0
Home Is Where the Heart Is 0
A Sad Contemplative Christmas Today 0
Moments of Memory; In Memory of Moments 0
Sun and Rain, Joy and Pain: I Miss My Friend Brian 0
Dehumanized and Clinicized--N
OT
1
Not Full 0
Love, Loss, and Lennon 0
Dying Dream 0
Brian's Pure Love for His Lady 0
Two Loved Ladies Undergoing Surgery Now 0
The Masks Fall Off at Midnight 1
Prime of Life 1
Low Energy and Less Time: And Too Many Things to Do 1
Happy Veterans Day, Brian 0
Happy Veterans Day, Brian 0
Thanksgiving 0
Autumn of Year; Autumn of Life 0
Brian's Birthday and New Year's Eve 0
Under a Constant Star (9/11) 0
Deep Time 0
Is There Anything Out There 2
Classics in the Closet 0
Nobody 0
Feeling the Wind 0
The Wild Doe and the Hunter 0
Happy Birthday, Brian 0
The End of the World: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 6 pm PDT 1
Brian's Special Smile 0
Broken Birth 0
Missing Brian 0
Focus: Today, Happy 0
I Love You, Brian 0
The Ways and the Words of You 1
Stone Cry 0
Amore Immortale 0
Reality and Unreality 1
Lyrical Life 1
Easter 0
Shakespeare's Birthday 0
Friends During Need 1
Death--A Play--or the Final Act 0
Moods 0
I Was Worried About You 0
Song of Life 2
Me 1
Oh Mother of My Life, My Mind, My Heart--Happy Birthday (Sunday, April 3, 2011) 0
Your Money or Your Life 1
Poesis 0
A Last Look at the Moon 0
Tears for Brian: My Tears Spring Suddenly 0
Seventeen in the Past 1
Clusters 1
Suffering and Dying Where Love Is Least 1
Looking at People in a Restaurant, Talking to Brian 1
Brian Cannot Come Back to Me 3
Seven for Heaven: Human Haiku/Senryu, On Two Straight Guys Who Loved Each Other 3
Five Human Haiku (Senryu): Faithful to the Perfect Form 0
The Scream 3
Life Is 8
Following My Friend 3
Small Moments (Written by Patricia, for Brian) 1
For Precious Michael (Written by Patricia, for me) 4
Dream of Life, Dream of Friendship, Dream of Love 4
The Power to Create 4
A Single Fortune Cookie 6
The Meaning of Life 2
Dreamless 3
Prayers 3
Lost Love 2
I Thank My Mother for My Birthday and for Her Wonderful Mother Love 3
Lennon Lost His Life: And Now, So Has Teena Marie 2
All the Way with Part Way 2
Loving, Living, and Dying 6
Dreaming and Seeming 3
Poem Prayer 2
Science, Poetry, Philosophy, and More 2
Super A, Abuelita1--Th
ank You for Your Support, Caring Love, and Understanding
2
Wonderful Connie 1
Someday-Dying 2
Between Yes and No 3
Love of Life 1
Zappa the Magnificent 1
In the Midst of Life 2
Only One Death 1
Real Illusion 1
The Unknown 1
My Apparently Known Possible Fates in This World 1
No More Me 2
Someone 2
Leaving Life 1
Precious Jade 2
Fear and Grief and Going: Unguilty of the Grave 1
Using and Losing Time 1
Loveless Life 2
Good Life, Good Grief 1
Dreamless 1
Ontology versus Oncology 1
Now Time 2
No Present, No Future: All Past 3
Hippocratic Hell 1
First Light 2
Almost At the Limit [--A Sonnet] 1
Death-Trap 0
Broken 1
Birthday Termination 1
Moments 1
First and Last Cry 1
Love 2
Final Fragility 1
End of the World 1
Tripping 1
Seasonal Ring 1
Gifts that Go and Still Stay 1
Sidney Says: Advice to Poets and All Writers 3
Enthusiasm: God Within 3
Send Me Your Good Will, or Pray For Me--Please 1
Feeling Each Other's Pain 1
Snow Man for a Low Man 0
Explanation of My Poem "As If the Last" 2
New Year, No Love 2
Poetic Form 0
Guilty Pleasures: Not Guilty 2
About Me 1
Live, Laugh, and Love 4
Nothing Special 2
Why a Writer Writes 2
To Sarah Y and Her Beloved Little Boy Who Cries Out: Again! 1
I and You: Unique and the Same 1
Where's the Compasssion in Our Health Care System? 0
Lonely Girl, I'm Feeling the Way You're Feeling: But We Can Both Make It Through 3
Health-Care Reform and Hell on Earth 3
Psyche 3
My Bucket List (For Now) 4
My Most SCARED Moments 2
Children of the Stars 2
Passing Life's Test 1
Why More Now? 1
Remembering My Grandma on Thanksgiving Eve 3
Another Thursday, Another Hammer 4
Thursday's Hammer 1
New Birthday 2
Let Love of Life Light Up the Psyche of Fawn 1
To Angel Eyes: The Wonders of Your Life 1
Regarding the Lack of Fall in Texas 2
Light for the Fight 2
All That I Have 3
Shine 2
As If the Last 2
Here Now 1
All in Time 2
The Exile 2
Incurable and Terminal 4
Tripping 2
One More Tomorrow 1
My Dash 4
One of Two Is Stronger 1
No More Romeo; No More Juliet 1
Friendship and Life 1
Snow and Life 3
Live Spelled Backwards 1
Sarah Y 2
To Fly 2
My Cry 1
Moment of Madness 2
Fall From a Great Height 1
A Memory 1
Less Life; No Loving 2
A Loser, True 2
Time Stop 1
Final Sleep 1
Entre Enfer 1
Flying Life 1
One Would Have Been Enough to Make Life Worth Living 5
Once 3
The Haiku Form 2
Bridge to a Comet--Your Visits and Comments to Me 4
Get Well Soon, Luna Marie 2
Winging It (a human haiku, or senryu) 3
Light Locomotive 2
Skite, Where Were You Today? Where Are You Tonight? 2
Angel's Wings, Angel's Voice 4
Shy, but Not Too Shy 2
High Coo 4
From Night to Night 3
Life's Journey's End--Cut Short by Cancer 4
Love, Light, Life, and Night 2
Fear and Courage 1
Death in Life 3
Unknown Final Fate 3
To Right a Poem 4
Crab-Like Concealed 4
Soon 2
All in the Mind 3
Ebony Shine 3
On My Nephew Naming His First-Born Son After Me 5
Love, Loss, and Lennon 3
Eqinox 4
Feeling My Heart 5
The Best Person I Ever Knew: My Best Friend--Brian 2
In Memoriam, George Difficult 3
Lovers 7
Art 5
Things to Do 4
Plane on Fire 3
Ameliorator 5
Thanksgiving 7
Worlds of Light 24
Failure's Fortress 13
Song of Life (Original Version) 13