Written in the Stars (a Spenserian Sonnet)

of love, of worry, of fear, and of hope

Your face, a Cherokee lifeline unfolds — a will not bent or broken with the storm a smile your youth and charity uphold a resilient strength, this foe rises to harm.

This blank-eyed stare begins to form, a ghost we cannot wrap our minds around, with bated breath we know tests will confirm which way our battle cries will take their ground.

The time-lost sequences upon you now that steal away your joy and memory can bring a mother, strong yet broken down to sleepless nights and fearful energy.

Don’t worry love, we’ll face this strong and hard. God’s love for you is written in the stars.

This poem is inspired by a loved one, my son’s fiance and mother of my two little grandchildren. She’s been experiencing focal seizures, confirmed by EEG. Her MRI was also abnormal. We now wait for a more extensive EEG.

I cannot imagine how difficult this has all been on her with a 1 1/2 year old and a 4 year old in her care, a household to run, and a life to be lived…we wait with our hearts filled with worry for the diagnosis (all arrows are pointing to Epilepsy, at this point, but there are different types and treatments, some more terrifying than others.)

Your prayers, well-wishes, hope, warm thoughts — all are welcome as we navigate this as a family.

October is Epilepsy Awareness Month.

Christina Ward 🍁🌲 is a poet and nature writer from NC.