PART OF THE THIS IS THE MOMENT SERIES
November 1st, 2020
by Michelle Payette-Daoust
Entering my ninth season since my diagnosis.
The pandemic remains.
Nothing is as it once was but
nothing ever is
from one moment to the next.

I will count my time in seasons now and
try to rise above the treatment calendar
of chemo, scans and blood work—wiped
clean of coffee klatch dates and gatherings of
friends and family—many unseen over winter,
spring, summer and now fall…

We try, Simon and I, to be
good neighbors, good friends, good
family members, bringing food, serving
coffee to the builders here, baking love…
Preparing for winter, and the loss
…
of the trees,
grown quiet,
stripped bare
uninhabited
and stoic.
