Poems: Invasion

Lying prone I am exposed
One breast hanging
Alone 
Hands pulling, prodding, searching 
Looking for the cells that infect me 
Walls of steel compress me 
Flattening my femininity into  
A plank of flesh 
A stream of ice shoots into me 
In an attempt to dull the pain 
Ice melting into my skin 
Surfaces into tears streaming down my cheeks 
Forming a puddle of fear 
Not subsiding 
My virgin flesh is shocked with a 
Boring suction pick 
Vacuuming cells outside my body 
What will machinery find? 
Will it locate the death handed down by my grandmother? 
Hanging on a hook 
I pray for redemption 
That I may be resurrected from the cells that 
Infect my very being. 

– Robin Schepper