I'm a poet diagnosed w/MS

[lwilpwr]

I'm a poet working on a book of poems chronicling my experience since being diagnosed with MS 10 years ago. Please find a sample below and offer any feedback.

Harboring the Enemy

It’s a terrifying discovery
That you’re harboring the enemy
By definition, that what autoimmune is
Your own defenses attacking your systems
Rheumatoid Arthritis, the joints
Lupus, the organs
Fibromyalgia, the muscles
Multiple sclerosis, the brain’s neurons

What a dastardly opponent!
The body’s confused arrangement
In its misdirection it has honed in on you
Tirelessly and incessantly destroying you
Breaking up, tearing down, and stripping away
There’s no where to run, hide, or get away
No wonder, there’s no cure
No wonder few treatments work


What do you do?
What do you do with any contender?
Assess your adversary’s nature
Educate yourself about its characteristics
Then, inventory your own strong suits
Go to work and devise a strategy
Enlist those on whom you can rely
Fortify it with professionals, family and friends
These are your tested, tried, and true allies
Dismiss everything and everyone else
Bow your heads; yield a prayer and praise
Today, you do battle; today, you fight!

[Seasha]

Wow - this is incredible! The voice is loud and clear, shouting out from the page (well, in this case, the screen)

Keep up the good work and keep in touch with us!

[lwilpwr]

Thanks Seasha,

You are very kind and I appreciate your positive response. I'll keep working on my book, The Poetic MS Encyclopedia. It's my attempt to explore all of the emotions and challenges we experience. Please find below one of my favorites, " The Expert".

MS expert, my sweet ***!
God forgive me for being so crass
What can you tell me; what do you know?
This monster doesn’t lurk in you bag of bones
You spout what you’ve read
You ponder what you’re told

This poison you call therapy
Give it to yourself, your spouse, your baby
There’s no guarantee
You can’t grant longevity
You don’t divvy life quality
God! What’s happening to me?

Lord, you made and fashioned me
Will you take the case and treat me?
Will you touch and restore me?
Will you sustain and keep me?
I have no Plan B
Only you can save me.

[Seasha]

Wow! Another excellent one, lwilpwr. It really tug on my heartstrings.... When you hope to have this book published?

[lwilpwr]

Seasha,

"When will I publish my book?" is a great question; a couple of issues. When I was diagnosed 10 years ago, I had NO idea what to expect. My doctor just dropped the diagnosis bomb with no guidance. I want my book to be a comprehensive encyclopedia of what we go through physically, emotionally, and spiritually; an exploration of how it affects the whole person. So I 'm waiting until I feel God tell me I'm finished. That's what I did with my first book, Rants from a Dysfunctional Family; A Book of Poetry. I wrote until I felt God tell me that I was finished. It was published last November and well received, complete with a book signing in a local Christian book store.

My other issue is that "Rants" is distributed by Create Space and Amazon. I'd like my next book to be more agressively distributed. I'm trying to work through that now. I want to find a publisher/distributor.

Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any comments.

[Krysalus]

powerful imagery

Hi.

Just found this thread. Powerful stuff there.

Good luck with the book.

[Seasha]

Hi lwilpwr,

I wouldn't know the first thing about publishing, but I do know there are resources out there - have you gone to a public library? I remember from my own work, there are reference books out there that list publishers/distributors (names, addresses, etc) unless it's all computerized now. It's a start anyway....

Another thing you could do is post your poems and questions again in the general answers and questions section here. You might get more responses as not as many people read this booknook section.

Good luck to you!

[502E79]

lwilpwr,

Enjoyed your poem and have enjoyed poetry more lately than ever before.

A friend turned me on to Rainer Marie Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet." It is not poetry, but an amazing outlook on life (these are real letters to a young poet from a poet) almost a hundred years ago. Great insight !

Rilke's own poetry is tough and translation (from German) does not help, but some poems cut to the heart... for me anyway.

Other poets I have enjoyed: Billy Collins, Tony Hoagland and Elizabeth Bishop

Good luck with all your endeavors!

[lwilpwr]

Thanks!

Thanks everybody for your feedback and encouragement. I'll certainly keep plugging away and keep you posted, that is between chaperoning a 15 year old and chasing a 2 year old. Nevermind, the biggest baby, the 53 year old husband

[Shopchief1470]

POETRY

I to take pen to hand andam pursuing a dream of publishment. I have been published twice (single poem each) and the most nerve racking was reading my Easter poem if front of a congregation of almost 5000 people on Palm Sunday. I to value others' comments on my poetry and have had several support my idea of being published. May your pen never run dry and may you never develop carpal tunnel. I would love to hear from an artist whom has had an opportunity of publishment. my email is the same SN as here just @yahoo.com Thank you for the superb material to read