This is the next installation in a series of poems written collectively by women living with cancer. The previous poem in the series was What the Women Wrote, 5 (June 2014).

Message to the World
From Women on the Banks of the Susquehanna

This is the time to share our creativity.
Our hearts celebrate love, the light of God shines upon us.

There is a great experience to have and to carry with you
in the beauty of trees and deer along the banks of this river

for this is a place like none other.
It draws to it women young and old, shy and bold.

Some came to celebrate their mothers.
Some have suffered the diagnosis of cancer and persevered.

Some came to see in everyone else, little pieces of themselves.
Seven voices raised as one, seven raised a thousand strong.

We are sisters with talents to share, messages carried in prayer
for you in every far-flung corner, every river’s shore:

Sing with joy in your hearts. Give much of yourselves.
Celebrate light, life, the gift of each day. Make a difference.

Find friends, encouragers, faith partners, and raise your voices.
Pray for peace to strengthen the backbone of the world.

This is the time to share your creativity.
May your hearts celebrate love, may the light of God shine upon you.