A Poem That Healed

By Naki Akrobettoe

100 percent of me believes that I possess the cure to cancer
Call me crazy that I very well may be.
Truth is I cried for seven days straight when they told me
“Aunt Pan” has three months to live...
My tears reached to the heavens
And my heart ached just to give her more of what we call time
Because I deemed her to be the most valuable gift life could bring
And I would wish upon a million stars just to sing her peace
The melody would start with a lil’ hummin’ followed by
A sweet symphony of brass, bass and cello
I promise you have never met an angel with a sweeter hello
She is my everything.
She is to me, what Michael was to the world
We made a pact when I was just a young lil’ girl
That I would never stop dreaming in color
Or outside the four corners of a box
Even if I was living life at the bottom
My heart put me at the top.
See my auntie never could hurt a fly
And the moment she bows out, I won’t question why
Because I told myself big girls don’t cry
We shower blessings
After the cancer there in lies the lesson
That all I ever asked myself for, was the strength
To see her through her last days
Morphine wasn’t enough to erase our past away
Because I can still smell her baked fish
And broccoli casserole
I’m smiling towards the heavens cause the angels will
Never know a dish more tasty
A hug never worth trading
This woman taught me about dating, first kisses, and heartbreaks
I’d be rude if I didn’t even try to reciprocate
So with all the God in me, I vowed to write her a poem a day
Just create a fantasy that she could stay
Just a lil while longer so I can find her a remedy
That could erase her pain gently
See if peace came in an IV or a bottle
I’d go bankrupt, just so she could swallow
Or break bread, even take communion
Never again would she have to be tube fed
Because I am the cure to cancer
Poetry at her bedside
A peace that will never subside
Not even after the last syllable is written
Not even after your eyelids close
Simply because I wrote this just so she knows she made a
difference I recite this, live this, breathe this in your remembrance.