A new MP3 entitled Fitting In is on Audio. This week was heavenly. John Fox, of Poetic Medicine, held a two-day workshop at Cancer Wellness at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta. This is my community and it has taken me a while to realize that. Even though I have only been a caregiver, cancer has had me up against the wall this lifetime. When we stumble, we are held in hope. When we falter, we are lifted up. To do that isn’t easy. Unless and until you have faced death head-on and been able to summon your inner child, you haven’t really lived. Wellness is about rebirth into your essence.

The Poetry Reading with John Fox was a highlight for me. Never have I felt so warmly welcome. In that circle sat a group of extraordinary people drawn together in a common cause. Not of fighting cancer but of healing into wholeness through our very own voices.

Each voice is heard at Cancer Wellness...not only heard but honored and encouraged....to say more. Listening is an art and John Fox’s Poetic Medicine is a master class in listening.

I am so happy to be a part of the family at Cancer Wellness. Here is a poem written there:

Come surrender now and it will
prove you wrong about why it took so long.

Not because you feared it but
because you feared the consequences
of love.

For love is just another word for letting go.
You think surrendered love is dangerous,
involving loss and loss and more loss.

You are right. It is the loss of everything
holding you back from the heritage of
the heart.

I have put my young daughter into the good earth
and then again her father when his time came.
I did not surrender them because I chose to
but because I appeared to be choiceless.

There has been no compensation
but the willingness to come raw
with my words to the ones who
can appreciate the sacrifice.

Vicki Woodyard