James McGurk’s most recent poem to appear here was Ten Minute Morning 3:30 am (October 2012).

Cancer
By James McGurk

It lingered

For how long

Days

Hours

Years

Perhaps

At first breath

At first smell

Or when

The eyes opened

For first light

Or

Did it follow

The umbilical

Straight to eyes

In their first light

And

Gather in first thought

Or

Was it from

The hounds of Hell

Chewing on bones

But

Best they find

Another bone

To sup on

Because these eyes

Now see the stars