Keeping Score

She said let’s start with history, how the counts
rose and fell and rose again, the score
that points to what’s going on, what we have.

Don’t scream, I’ve done everything I should’ve,
the cells win over will, you can’t beat the count
however hard you try. That’s the score.

You must measure, keep up the score,
grasp hold of science with all you have,
and fill the vials with each month’s count.

Count, keep score, have faith.

Tuesday Night

Pills glisten in a weekly blister pack
bright and shiny, carefully colored.
Lots for morning, some for evening,
white (of course) and a nice dull red,
a single translucent blue glows for night.
They mend the heart, but leave the brain
to crack and craze with time.

Where, I ask, did you get those
giant daily dose dispensers, labels so
carefully calling Ann, Ann, Ann?
A moment’s indecision flies across her face.
I won them.

A question hovers, but remains unsaid,
what competition has this prize for life?

Danielle Salvadori reads “Tuesday Night”:

Danielle Salvadori is a photographer, video maker and poet based in London. Her photography and video have been shown in exhibitions and festivals worldwide. She is new to writing poetry. Like all of us she is also a patient and close to other patients.

Header image by Jan Styblo via Unsplash