And yet I rise

I catch me, with gentle arms yet strong
I rescue me, with forgiveness yet truth
I calm me, with soothing whisper yet firm
I rest
I rise
I am still very muddy

Once more I fall

I am falling, falling… The ground crumbles, precarious footholds lost in an avalanche of memories. My mind is a vortex, voices swirl and scream; I am slipping, sliding, desperate for purchase against the inexorable pull of gravity. I am muddy …

Anything but yellow! Talking chemo wards

It is the first week of December 2012 and outside, in the sharp, wintry coldness, Christmas twinkles promisingly from shop windows and the ethereal dome of St Paul’s Cathedral casts its venerable shadow with implacable grace. It doesn’t exactly dwarf …

Reasons to be Cheerful – yes, yes, dear, dear

Life hasn’t quite worked out the way I’d planned. I say planned, but as I write the word I’m already questioning because, technically, it implies at some point in my life I’ve thought hard about what I want, set some …

What am I?

A good friend has nurtured an ambition to write for several years, but recently she questioned whether it was actually the writing or the subject – food – that was the true burning passion. Without wishing to put words in …

Keep your bra out of my face

Duck – I’m on a rant. Pinktober is one thing (I hate bloody pink), but now we have No Bra Day, in support of breast cancer awareness. A more insensitive, pointless campaign I have yet to come across. No bra …

Lisa died today

Lisa died today. Stage IV lung cancer, though she never smoked. Lisa and I never actually met; a friend connected us earlier this year when I was still on chemo and she was going through the endless regimens that only …

The Price of Procrastination

£6.22 That’s the price I paid today, anyway. That is how much it costs to make sure something posted on a Saturday arrives on a certain desk by lunchtime on Monday. To be fair, it doesn’t strictly have to be …