happiness

Your heart is dancing

~ Rachel McAlpine ~ 3 Comments
MRI Sagittal view of the heart. Image courtesy St Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada
MRI Sagittal view of the heart. Image courtesy St Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada

Your marrow misbehaves
but a large part of you
is dancing. 

Your heart is dancing a minuet,
dancing through
the inner you, 

and you are still truly you,
deep as cells, deep
as metaphysics.

My brother-in-law, as part of the management and treatment of his leukaemia, watched his own heart beating during a scan. He was filled with wonder at this marvellous privilege and at the beautiful dance his heart was performing. 

poem by rachel mcalpine cc-by-2.0

Oh lucky Max

~ Rachel McAlpine ~ 4 Comments
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Photo of children playing soccer by Harmony, cc-by-nd-2.0 (via Flickr)

‘Today was the worst day
in my whole entire life.
Five bad things happened.

  1.  I forgot my lunch—again.
  2. I missed out on play lunch.
  3. Celia hit me with a hat.
  4. Then Celia hit me with some
    nail polish in a glove.
  5. At soccer people stooded
    on my head.’

Oh lucky Max.
You’re six. And you survived.
May this truly be the worst day

in your whole entire life.
May you never have another day
as bad as this.

From Senior Poems by Rachel McAlpine