Radiation Reflection, Day 1

The room feels like Star Trek,
Blue laser lines down my chest -
Hold my breath -
Focus
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

A robot rotates around me,
I stare straight to my right,
Want to cry,
But then I smile at the song
“Easy Like Sunday Morning,”
and I’m back at the end
of my 33rd birthday party -
a piano bar adorned in yellow lights
and drunk dancers

Not all things that radiate
cause damage.

I found this heart on the mall floor outside See’s Chocolates. I was buying a box of truffles for myself following my first radiation appointment so that I could eat one per day as a way to count down 21 treatments. I bought a box for Travis, too, because he’s going through this with me.