we wheel her into the emergency room
external internal bleeding
static on the radio, television, internet
broken bones, wounds needing sutured
militant groups moving like gangrene
up her legs, down her arms
fires in the ribs, the chest, refugees
walking across the plains of her
collar bones

cancer of the heart
cancer of the soul, of the spirit
cancer of the nightly news
the thought of bomb
cancer of the human mind
vague treatment options
in paper pamphlets

some of us wait
in the lobbies of the hospitals
for what feels like
forever

cancer of the everything

cancer of nigeria
syria, cancer of paris
cancer of time

when you fire recklessly
into the sky
don’t be surprised
if you shoot god down

and we are all of us falling
into soft beds of hope
restless and writhing
into giant vats of fear
stirring around in ignorance
endless newsfeed
eternally moving through…