In Between Times

By Maureen Nuckols

In between times is when I live

In the outside world.

Sunlight brightens fluffy tufts of rabbit brush to gold.

Red scrub oak leaves glow with the light,

Cat tails spill puffs of brown,

Fall lingers.

My mood lightens, step by step.

During times of the poison,

My passport for the well world gets canceled;

I move into the interior world of ill.

Focused on my body, I forget to look anywhere else.

Private symptoms burst into public without my permission.

My body feels slow, heavy, achy.

In between times, is when I live

Gulp down life

Walk with faithful friends, write poetry without fear

Laugh as much as I can

Pay attention to light and changing colors,

Ignore the coming threat of the next infusion.

I search for signs in the clouds,

Changing shapes and colors every day.

They tell me this poison is keeping me alive

Clouds always give me peace

Maureen Nuckols is a retired professor of nursing, writer and new poet who has lived for 32 years in Carbondale, and is currently a cancer patient.