Socially Ill Terminal Media
written by: Andrew Minhinnick
@Minhinnick_A
watching someone on social media
someone you’ve never met
but you’ve connected
distantly
and you’ve watched their public battle
with a terminal disease
a brain tumour
where there is no cure
but they catalogue their fight
this part of their life
with those discrete windows
of them
and into their family
the faces gathered
clustered
wearing taught happiness
moments
you see the messages change
the words start to tumble
the letters innocently mix
the mind and eye distracted by the battle behind
yet still they march onwards
indomitably brave
carrying the flame for others walking the same path
asking awkward questions of embassy
to embarrass downcast eyes
for funding, grants, research, a miracle
any shred of hope
but not for them
they know where their path ends
this isn’t for them
it’s for those walking behind
their families
those not as brave
not as wonderful
yet
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This piece is none specific to an individual but inspired by one person’s humbling battle
- Modern Poetry - November 7, 2024
- Siren Cerys - March 5, 2024
- Socially Ill Terminal Media - November 28, 2023
