Survivor Man

In my life I’ve survived
a bear attack,
a wolf attack
and a bull moose that nearly drowned me
when it dragged me across a river while sleeping in my tent.

I survived falling into a glacial crevasse
by clawing my way out with pitons;
and my brother and I once almost slid off a mountain.

How bad can cancer be compared to what I’ve already been through?
I tell you, cancer ain’t near as scary as that bear and them wolves.

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About the author: In the fall of 2022, Dr. John Smelcer was diagnosed with stage 2 B-cell, non-specified, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a metastatic cancer of the lymphatic system. He is currently undergoing hospitalization cycles of chemo and immuno-therapy. John Smelcer is the author of 60 books, including a dozen books of poetry. His most recent collection is Raven. For a quarter century, he was Poetry Editor at Rosebud Magazine, where he currently serves as Senior Editor Emeritus. From 2016-2020, he was the Inaugural Writer-in-Residence for the Charter for Compassion, the world’s largest compassion movement with over five million members in 45 countries.