Studies in the Unnatural World

I have long been interested in the prose poem. I'm equally drawn to works that complicate the definitions of (and boundaries between) genres and disciplines, particularly when such works examine the relationship between nature and culture. I began this project with the idea of writing short works of prose or prose poetry comprising anecdote, discourse, metaphor, and speculation. These were to be organized and generated by the name of a particular discipline (I speak to friends of my "ologies"). That was the plan. Then I found myself confronted by the most "unnatural" thing I could imagine, news of a genetic mutation in Allison, our beloved daughter.

Allison's cancers-breast, ovarian, and thyroid-were identified in March 2017 and treated with a series of surgeries, chemotherapies, immunotherapies, and proton radiation. A year after her initial diagnosis, she was declared free of everything except the testing for recurrence she insisted on. We got on with our lives, Allison with hers. Then a couple of years later, in August 2020, I was out on our deck enjoying a martini when I received a phone call. It was Allison with news that the cancer was back. It had spread throughout her bones, liver, and brain. Without treatment, she could have as little as three months to live. Allison died in late August 2023 after six years of living with cancer.