Controversial Cancer Poem
Aniela wrote this beautiful poem while in the midst of her chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer, a year after her own mother went to "study abroad" after passing from ovarian cancer. The poem is written from the perspective of cancer personified. She shared it during her speech as the keynote speaker at the South Florida Day of Caring.
From Aniela:
"If cancer could speak, what would it say? This video answers that and it might just piss you off. There are so many emotions that swirl through your head when you are diagnosed with cancer. Holding my mother's hand as she died from ovarian cancer and then to be diagnosed a year later has made me question what am I not learning here."
"I have wars waged upon me and walks staged against me.
You try to blame me and shame me for doing my job,
But maybe you should look at why I arrived.
You accuse genetics or food for giving you this curse,
But it is not what you put in your mouth,
But what didn’t come out that was worse.
You invited me in, asked me to stay,
By burying your feelings and the things you wanted to say.
The hate that you ate was your true poison,
And your only way out is to learn to be open.
I have no malice or motive, a villain I am not.
If you look deep within, you will realize this is a gift I have brought.
Life is too short and you are doing it all wrong.
The fastest way to fix it is for me to come along.
I am a teacher and I give you a present more precious than life,
The reminder that you have caused your very own strife.
I do not break families apart, but I bring them together.
I show you that the weak are strong
And to be vulnerable is better.
All that glitters is not gold
Your youth, hair, and breasts will all get old.
You have put value in an asset with diminishing returns,
And I will make sure that all of it burns.
Out of the ashes true beauty will grow,
And LOVE is the only word you will need to know.
I pray one day you will truly forgive,
Because that is the moment you will begin to live."