by Lois Hjelmstad
No Lifeguard on Duty
it is difficult
when one is drowning
to wave to the people
on shore
one wants to be
friendly, of course,
but perhaps it is
more important
to keep
swimming.
Eve’s Apple
Let me treasure
the not-knowingness of life
the sense of uncertainty
the wonder of worry
so I may hold close
the preciousness of passage
the awareness of being alive
the freshness of the First Morning
Support Group
courage ebbs, flows
anger flashes, dissipates
love holds us together
Bio: Lois Hjelmstad is an international speaker and the award-winning author of three books. She and her husband, Les, have been married over sixty-one years and live in Englewood, Colorado, where she taught piano, music theory, and composition for almost forty years.
The three poems above are excerpted from Fine Black Lines: Reflections on Facing Cancer, Fear and Loneliness. Copyright 1993, 2003, Lois Tschetter Hjelmstad. Reprinted by permission of Mulberry Hill Press, www.FacingBreastCancer.com.
