My son was 20 when his AVM ruptured. His only option for treatment was Cyberknife Radiation which can take up to 3 years (or longer) to be fully efficacious. In a few days, we’ll be at the 3 year anniversary and he’ll have the next MRI this summer to see if it is obliterated. I wrote this poem during this period of waiting and thought, perhaps, many of you could relate. I wish us all comfort during these most trying times of parenthood. Be well, Kelly
Blueprint of the Waiting Room
I’ve been remodeling
my brain
constructing a new wing
for worry
my son’s snarled nest
of unpredictable tangles demands
a large parcel of real estate
in both our skulls
while radiation
hopes to choke
blood vessel by errant blood vessel
my maternal hemispheres
expand two stories
spiral staircased
floor-to-ceiling medical library
with a sliding ladder on rails
soundproof walls absorb
anguish & night terrors
no space for windows
light can enter
only through the keyhole
in the massive oak door
its key too heavy to carry
Kelly Cressio-Moeller
First published in West Trestle Review, Jan/Feb 2021
