Two weeks ago I had
Mohs surgery on face
basal cell cancer was
size of pea
on bridge of nose
no big deal I thought
yet
incision began between
eyebrows
curved around nose
doctor created skin flap
to cover hole where
cancer was
he’s done about a million
of these surgeries
it was like assembly
line in waiting room
afterwards Keith said I
looked like
I’d been in a bar room
brawl
two black eyes almost
swollen shut.
That was Tuesday
I thought by Sunday
I’d look okay but no
two black eyes
gross-looking wound
didn’t want to go to
church
but had no choice.
No choice
retired pastors out of
town as usual
lay speaker recovering
from Covid
so –
stuck big bandage on face
tried to hide behind pulpit
people kept coming up
showing me lack of
scars
from their own Mohs
surgery
one woman showed me her
after-surgery photos
looked like she had
been mauled by bear
no trace now
then I didn’t feel so
bad
couldn’t hide anyway
wished the livestream
wouldn’t work
behold it didn’t
which isn’t unusual still
I was grateful.
Another woman said she
had fever blister and came anyway
man said he had chipped
tooth and came anyway
because they knew I’d
be there
solidarity!
Six days later I played
pickleball
with only small band-aid
hidden by safety glasses
now there is trace of one
black eye
weird red lump between
eyes
lumps red color scars
may take more than a year to heal.
Thank God cancer is
gone
at least for now.
