But I have burned already down to bone. There is a fire that burns beyond the names Of sludge and filth of which this world is made. Agony sears the dark flesh of the body, And lifts me higher than the smoke, to rise Above the earth, above the sacrifice; Until my soul flares outward like a blue Blossom of gas fire dancing in mid-air: Free of the body’s work of twisted iron. James Wright
About This Quote

Cancer is the fire. It is the experience of pain and loss that burns you down to your core. It is something that will forever change who you are, though it also reveals who you are. The pain of cancer is so intense it seems impossible to be free of it.

However, there is a way to rise above it. The blue flame gives you a glimpse into the world beyond pain. You are not defined by what happened but by how you moved through it.

Source: Above The River: The Complete Poems

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  1. The JewelThere is this cave In the air behind my body That nobody is going to touch: A cloister, a silence Closing around a blossom of fire. When I stand upright in the wind, My bones turn to dark emeralds.
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  4. Give winter nothing; hold; and let the flake Poise or dissolve along your upheld arms. All flawless hexagons may melt and break; While you must feel the summer's rage of fire, Beyond this frigid season's empty storms. Banished to bloom, and bear the birds' desire.
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