An ode to my rogue (cancer) cells

First there was one and then two

and before I knew

there were one too many

counting made little sense

morphing new with exuberance

new is not progress, not always, I found

how can I complain,

when, birthed from my own.

They too are mine?

It is all a game

a smile,

the littlest of smiles

not untouched with malice

she does not know, not yet anyway,

hidden deep within

in her folds

where shall I strike?

it’s all a game

I feed, I grow,

does she know?

off her breast

that never fed

a hunger

rogue, she calls me,

pinches my cheeks

somewhat melancholic…

The only question left

How then shall we cohabit?

Goodbye forever

It’s time to say goodbye

You arrived

Unannounced

Turned my life

Upside down

Frightened me

To (almost) death

To learn

Unwelcome guests, at times,

do bring welcome gifts

Cutting edge

cuts both ways

Now poetry flows

From my nuked/chemo-ed brain

Thank you very much

But its goodbye time

Do me a favour

Stay away, don’t return

I can live (only)

Without you

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Author: C Sathyamala (sathyamfc@yahoo.co.in; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0221-243X), Independent public health physician, epidemiologist, and social scientist, INDIA.

Conflict of Interest: None declared                                                                                                                                                                                        Funding: None

To cite: Sathyamala C. Journeying with cancer: A trilogy. Indian J Med Ethics. Published online first on April 16, 2026. DOI: 10.20529/IJME.2026.023

Submission received: March 6, 2026

Submission accepted: April 15, 2026

Manuscript Editor: Meenakshi D’Cruz

Copyright and license

©Indian Journal of Medical Ethics 2026: Open Access and Distributed under the Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits only noncommercial and non-modified sharing in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.