This poem compares cancer to sailing through a wild storm, sitting still with no wind, to waiting for healing, harnessing the wind in the sails, to moving toward my destination. In August 2024, I received the bad news that the blood cancer, Multiple Myeloma, which I had treated with radiation a year earlier, had spread through my spine and ribs.

I have been silent online for the past year, focusing on regaining my health. The Chemotherapy I received over the past year successfully killed all the cancer in my body, though the painful damage to my bones remains.

I wrote this poem before I received this news. I feel well enough to recommence my poetry with this apt poem, which has sat in my draft folder for over a year.

I was inspired to write this poem by Jessica Watson, who sailed solo nonstop around the world at 16 and Michael Singer's podcast - Navigating the Ocean of Life.

Sailing through Life's Storms

I set sail, solo, skipper of my yacht

Blue skies, a gentle breeze, sailing with ease

With other yachts, I tack across the bay

Skimming across the rippled waves.

The bay is calm and peaceful today

I sail smoothly at a comfortable pace

Relaxed and happy, I sail effortlessly

Catching the breeze on this sun-kissed bay.

I'm outward bound on a long voyage

I've set my sails for the open ocean

I'll be at the mercy of nature's elements

The excitement and terror of her power.

The wind picks up and invigorates

I skim across small choppy waves

Dip and rise with a moderate swell

Picking up speed, with the wind in my sails.

My sea-faring skills play their part

Coordinates set on my nautical chart

I pull the sail tight to catch the wind's force

The rudder is fixed for my destination port.

My skill as a skipper will determine

If I use the winds and current to my favour

Or will I stall and be swamped,

Capsize or drown, never to be found?

Nature is not under my control

I am not God, just a sailing soul

I cannot command the wind and waves

To be still and grant me safe passage.

I harness the wind's energy at every opportunity

To stay on course for my end port

Improving my skills as a seaworthy skipper

At one with my yacht, we move together.

A mighty storm came my way

With little time to prepare

I throw out the dragnet, lower the sails

Batten down the hatches and secure the cabin.

I cannot harness the power of that violent wind

The strong current, the thunderstorm

I'm at the mercy of the sea

As it threatens to batter my yacht and me.

The storm will pass, but will I be harmed?

I fear it could destroy my vessel

Relentless waves, the surge and pitch

Violently being tossed about.

The storm moves on, the ocean now a pond

I sit and wait, my ears pricked

For the clinck of the ropes against the mask

The lap of waves against the hull.

The doldrums, the calm after the storm

Sitting in nothingness, impatient and bored

Oh, to move forward, backwards or sideways

I could die here waiting on this dead, still ocean.

A beacon bobs in the distance

The bow pitches up and down

The compass swings as my vessel sways

My voyage continues with me at the helm.

My vessel scuds along as the wind picks up

Heeling with its mighty force

Just me and my yacht and the vast, lonely ocean

Praying for safe passage till my voyage ends.

The winds of life will blow

Its current will pull and drag me

Forces of nature are in control

I'm at the mercy of life's open ocean.

Life is a voyage that can toss too and fro

It often sails beyond what is familiar

Our life skills are tested and honed

The excitement and terror of the unknown.

Beverley Joy © 2024 Simply Story Poetry. All Rights Reserved.

Image by Beverley Joy.

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