Time, poetry and memory

From one rainy place to another ... I'm now in Effingham where although this morning's clear skies promised cold and bright it was not to be. The afternoon bought more grey cloud and more rain. That's the end of the boring weather report.

So nice to catch up with local friends today ... my bridge was very rusty and we had a lesson on something new before the free play. Another convention to learn and to try to remember along with so many others.I need some practice.

Then the 'all clear' good news at my six month check up with the Consultant at The Royal Marsden Hospital. It still feels strange being there as a patient when I was a member of staff for so many years. I only have to see the green paint on the front of the main building to be overwhelmed by a wealth of memories. 

I have now started to draw on my experience two years ago of being diagnosed and treated with surgery and radiotherapy for uterine cancer in my poetry.  I wrote about it at the time in my journal but last week for the 52 poems project I wrote about how a cancer cell came uninvited into my body, and the discovery of those unwanted cells.  I knew that one day (and other days) I would do that ... it needed patience because I wanted to write from the experience rather than about the experience.  Everything comes to those who wait.

Its late now, well late for me. The room is full of the fragrance of  white jonquils - a good sort before you go to sleep smell. Back tomorrow, or the next day.