Cancelled

Say that word out loud —

I don’t like the way that it sounds,

especially today when precious 

plans had to be scrapped.  

The root of this word means

to “cross out,” “deface,”

“nullify,” from the Latin

cancellare, “to make 

like a lattice,” and I feel

that crisscross shadow

in lines upon my face, a dark 

cloud breaking up my sunshiny

demeanor.  We forget how important

an event becomes as we prepare

and await, swept up in the envisioning — 

pleasant in the planning even as we wish

the time would hurry up and arrive.

But like an ugly bit of vandalism

splashed across the date on a calendar,

we sometimes must contend with that word,

mark through days we looked forward

to experiencing.  A joy deleted.  

— Heavy sigh — So we mourn, 

dust off the disappointment, restore 

our hurting heart by anticipating

the next time, praying it will be soon.

C.L. Fisher, June 2020

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