“Recurrence,” by Andy Young (Poetry ’11)

“Recurrence,” a poem by alumna Andy Young, was recently featured in Poetry and Medicine. Read an excerpt below:

Recurrence

Because I’m a poet I try to make
music of her diagnosis: scan
the adonics of glioblastoma,
terminal cancer, clinical trials.

No music in this diagnosis: scans
show the tumor bed ringed
with chthonic glioblastoma
cells. Radiation and chemo just

slow what the brain tumor will bring.
The cures break down healthy
cells, too: radiated, poisoned, she
tries to pop back up again

between these cures that break her down.
A new tumor emerges in the parietal,
popping back up again
like a nightmare game of whack-a-mole.

Read the entire poem here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2767163