[the Writing of Kuypers]
now, I know she had cancer before
but every time I hear a cancer ad
I know it doesn’t make a difference
but as I said, I know it’s irrelevant
but I still can’t help it
nothing to me
still, I listen
[JanetKuypers.com][Bio][Poems][Prose]
Listening to the Cancer Ads
every time I listen to the radio
and hear an ad for cancer research
(granted, it’s usually for tumors)
well, now I listen actively
breast cancer, cervical cancer
and after the surgery and after the chemo
she got a clean bill of health
and now she’s got leukemia
cancer in the blood, not in a tumor
so there’s no one spot to attack
my ears perk up, like a Pavlovian dog
it’s like someone’s just rang a bell
and it makes me listen attentively
I think she was at one of the best hospitals
but I hear about these research places
and wonder if there are slivers of hope
she’s already gone through two types of chemo
and I know she’s decided to stop the treatment
so I know there’s no point in new therapy
I still am forced to respond to these ads
like some sort of stupid Pavlovian dog
I hear these ads that are supposed to mean
Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
Listen 
to the DMJ Art Connection,
off the CD Manic Depressive or Something
Watch this YouTube video
Live at Getting Wired (camera #1 at Starbucks, Chicago, 08/08/09)
Watch this YouTube video
Live at Getting Wired (camera #2 at Starbucks, Chicago, 08/08/09)
See the full Getting Wired show video w/ this poem (camera #1)
This film is from the Internet Archive
See the full Getting Wired show video w/ this writing (camera #2)
This film is from the Internet Archive
See YouTube video of the poem reading by Janet Kuypers of Listening to the Cancer Ads (w/ John playing guitar) in her 3/28/15 show “Journey” at Sisters on a Journey in Hyde Park in Chicago (Canon fs200)
See YouTube video of the poem reading by Janet Kuypers of Listening to the Cancer Ads (w/ John playing guitar) in her 3/28/15 show “Journey” at Sisters on a Journey in Hyde Park in Chicago (Canon Power Shot)
See YouTube video of the 3/28/15 Janet Kuypers show “Journey” (w/ John playing guitar) at Sisters on a Journey in Hyde Park in Chicago (filmed with a Canon fs200), of 14 poem readings about her mother
See YouTube video of the 3/28/15 Janet Kuypers show “Journey” (w/ John playing guitar) at Sisters on a Journey in Hyde Park in Chicago (filmed with a Canon Power Shot), of 14 poem reading about her mother
Download these poems in the free chapbook
“Journey”, w/ poems read 3/28/15
at Sisters on a Journey show in Hyde Park (Chicago)
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