When they opened my lungs

There was no cancer

Just fungus encapsulated in flesh

Making bad X-rays but

Doing no harm

So I have tried to trap my guilt

In silence and energy

My anguish in the quiet

Tasks of domesticity

And the seasons

Of a long career

Putting scars

I grew myself

Between those old sins

And the eyes of my friends

Hoping to cultivate forgetfulness

In soil of unspoken deceit