Joy is Disguised

By Laura E. Garrard

PROMPT — Joy is ...

Joy is disguised

as a terminal diagnosis,

when medicines work

better than expected

on a stage-three high-risk mutation,

when relief leaches into fear

and I wake from shock five years later

at a women’s writing retreat,

my poetry book forthcoming,

when I thank others for their support

not of my survival but of art,

when I find my body still strong

cleaving to itself,

when I allow myself to let go of guilt

over my fortunate health while

others suffer more, succumb.

Here I am.

I take nothing for granted

though my human selfishness

pretends that I forget.

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Pushcart Prize nominee Laura E. Garrard is a multiple myeloma thriver living in the Northwest. Her poetry has appeared in journals like Bellevue Literary Review (Finalist), Amethyst Review, The Madrona Project, Silver Birch, Tidepools, and TulipTree Review (Merit Prize). You can purchase her debut chapbook, Paddling the Sweet Spot Between Life and Death through Finishing Line Press. Laura writes from Port Angeles, WA, USA.