Unseen Fire II Radiotherapy’s my inhuman war: Cancer the unseen fire; my shield a gown. My tattooed breasts exposed to sniper guns Are bullseyes for the marksmen firing down. My ductal tissue is the battle zone Where cells metastasise, accumulate Their threat of hidden death that lies in wait Unless the radiation nukes their lair. I lie, as shadowed staff behind glass screen Direct my inhaled breaths by microphone Countdown from fifteen…vented airways roar Released: as plates rotate, re-aim, withdraw The linear accelerator’s sight I sit up, dress and exit to the right.
Kate Meyer-Currey lives in Devon. She has had over a hundred poems published in print and online journals and anthologies in the UK and internationally. She has been selected to partner with Little Toller books as part of LiteratureWorks South West’s Talent Development programme. Her chapbooks ‘County Lines’ (Dancing Girl) and ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ (Contraband) are due out in 2022.
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal 