I thought it was all behind me
remission said my doctor

now only periodic PET scans
to be sure

only blood tests
to double check numbers

months of chemo, nausea and mouth sores
left behind on a distant shore

sailing easily on a salty breeze
no worries weighing me down

what I didn’t know
is that remission means

never really left behind

cancer walking silently
beside you like a shadow

a part of your life forever
like your best friend from first grade

listen, can you hear the waves swooshing
as you sail near the shore

Claire Scott is an award-winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize
nominations. Her work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary
Review, New Ohio Review and Healing Muse, among other journals. Claire is the
author of Waiting to be Called and Until I Couldn’t. She is the co-author of Unfolding
in Light: A Sisters’ Journey in Photography and Poetry.