*Dedicated to Joyce Cohen Paquin*

We come from different walks of life

All ages

Illnesses

Diseases

That have us begging

To get better

Some even want us to give up

To die

But we don't

We want to live

To persevere

Like the

Phoenix rising from the ashes

We want to leave our ills behind

Move toward the sky

The sun

On a cloudless day

Fly through the air

Never looking back

All of it a representation

Of what we are fighting

The ashes

Our illnesses/diseases

Other people who don't care nor want to

The medicine that doesn't work

The endless calls that produce nothing

The fire

The phoenix

Rising

Away from the gloom

Our hope

That all is not lost

That we are strong

We help each other

Lean on each other

Sisters, brothers not through blood

But through experience and understanding

Small families who still care enough

To hold out

That phoenix

The firebird of the ancient world

Is our soul fire

Heart song

We aren't staying buried in those ashes

We surpass them

One problem at a time

We are one

One

And not invisible

We are the

Phoenix rising from the ashes

Watch our fight to fly away eternal