Poet’s Corner

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I don’t like pink
By Donna Foster

I don’t like pink.
It’s not my color. Never has been. Particularly light pink.
Some people look good in pink.
Some people love pink.

Pink is the favorite color of one man I know. In most of his selfies
on Facebook he’s dressed and accessorized, head to toe, fingertips to
earlobes, all in pink.

But pink is not my color.

When I was ten, or thereabouts, my parents asked me what color I
wanted to have my bedroom walls painted and I said, “Pink.” But I
never liked the walls afterwards and when they let me choose new
furniture for my bedroom, it was painted blue and white.

That furniture is still with me, in my guest room. As it has stood the
test of time and age — fifty plus years — it is rather beat up,
scratched, and the blue has faded to a light green. Worn on the
outside but still surviving, solid and strong and able to do a fine
job fulfilling its purpose.

Recently, I ate dinner at a build your own burger sort of place. After
I gave the details of my order to the waitress, 7oz, medium well,
brioche, lettuce, tomato, pickle & onion on the side, and ketchup, she
asked, “A little pink?”

“No pink. I don’t like pink. Medium well, please,” I said.

Pink is the color for breast cancer. No, I don’t like pink. So, how
can I have cancer?

For six months, life turned upside down. My days were consumed with
doctor visits, hospital visits, surgery, recovery, teams of doctors,
nurses, radiologists, geneticists, another surgery, another recovery,
multiple daily appointments, radiation treatments, and another
recovery. With all this came a grateful attitude that the hospital is
only two miles from home.

Now, thankfully, I’m cancer free. A pill for the next 10 years will
help keep it that way. Like all patients, when it was over, I rang the
bell.

I’ll stick with blues, greens and a bit of purple thrown in for fun.
Not pastels but richly saturated. Blue for the sky and sea — after the
storm and opening to big open spaces of calm and peace. Green for
nature, tranquility, and health — perfect for healing, and comfort and
moving forward.

Donna Foster is a poet and breast cancer survivor who lives in Charlotte, N.C., and seasonally in Edgartown.

Poets with a connection to Martha’s Vineyard are encouraged to submit poems to Poet’s Corner editor Laura Roosevelt at ldroosevelt@gmail.com.