The Day We Discovered You Had Lung Cancer

For Rita Tyrrell

 

It is only now that we learn of your summer

how, when the winds of spring subsided

you felt breathless

 

how, as the solar panels smiled

finally turning sunshine into energy

you were losing yours

 

how, flowers were confetti

landing everywhere

like the rash you found in June

 

how, the ladybirds on your windowsill

were like the specks of blood

on your trembling tissue paper

 

how, as autumn begins to fall

we learn that you

are in the depths of winter