Bare, Poetry by Doug Robbins

Genre: Cancer and Nature

Bare
by Doug Robbins

Branches bare, bald, as you used to be,
when you were in remission,
You say bare trees are ugly.
Did you enjoy being
gawked at by those you once considered friends,
while your bald head glistened, just like a bowling ball
in fluorescent lighting?
Did missing your hair make you less human?
You say a tree with no leaves is ugly,
that is not fair, it’s not right.
That tree is in remission.
He or she must stand rigid against winter wind
and ice pummeling him, while standing fixed, planted firmly to the ground.
Someday, his or her hair will grow back,
as did your leaves.
You stood there, tree like, bravely, stubbornly standing
near sneering wolves, people they call themselves,
wishing your leaves, which you colored, like a tree,
from white to brown, instead of from green to yellow
or orange…