by Leslie Anne Bustard

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
~ Exodus 14:14

My drug of choice Is Benadryl—
pure, in its liquid form, and
shot straight into my port.
I can count backward from 10,
and then find myself
practically disconnected from my head,
heavy and sleepy. 
I need so many other drugs
to attack this cancer, 
ones I cannot spell or pronounce.
There is anastrozole and encorafenib
and binimetinib. 
But Benadryl puts me to sleep 
while Kanjinti courses through me—
so that I can say to God, 
I was still while you fought for me.

Leslie Anne Bustard is a writer, poet, and editor who lives with her family in Lancaster City, PA. She writes for Cultivating Project and Black Barn Online. Some of her other writings can be found at Calla Press, Deeply Rooted, and Christians in the Visual Arts. Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children, a book of essays she co-edited, will be released this April through Square Halo books. Her website, Poetic Underpinnings, contains her writings, podcasts, and the goodness of other people’s creativity.