A year ago today...
Fresh off fireworks
And the fourth of July
A routine mammogram
Revealed tiny cells exploding
In the red white and blue
Of my right breast.
Causing cascades and ripples
Like the chrysanthemum displays
Of the day before
But much less pretty
And much more dangerous.
Fortunately, after surgery
And dousing it with radiation
The cancer was defused
And I was able to celebrate
Another year of independence.