A Mock of a Mock Epic
For the month of March I was inspired by: the length of my rituxan infusions, six hours; the distance to get my infusions, 90 miles one way; and the difficulty of getting there, Atlanta's traffic, to attempt a mock epic that tells the story of Rituxan.
So, of the trials and deeds of Ritiuxan, sing in me, oh muse
Canto I: The Journey Begins
Awake before the illustrious sun
Sends shiny tendrils, waking everyone,
He sits, guiding his chair into the van,
His cell phone charged and displaying a plan.
He climbs from his chair to the driver’s seat. 5
Wheelchair secure, he drives onto the street.
In Toccoa, traffic is quiet, calm.
But, he knows, that like a ticking time bomb
Rush hour traffic is ready to explode
Spreading a mess of cars over the road. 10
Comfortably, he drives through Gainesville’s sleeping
Rush hour before the traffic starts creeping
Onto the highway. Now, he drives warily, for he knows
That as the morn progresses, traffic grows
From the slight flow of vehicles wanting 15
To beat the oncoming rush, so daunting.
The sun is awake, and his journey’s end
Looms off the highway, just around the bend
Off of Eighty-five’s exit: eighty-six.
Help with his MS is what it predicts. 20
Finally! The Shepherd Center appears,
The home of his relief for many years.
Cheerfully he steers the van down Peachtree
Road, and then greeted by security.
Arriving early allows him to park 25
Closer, so that he can disembark
From his van and easily he can roll
Into the Shepherd Center, a nice stroll.
His chair parked and now he waits for the call
That will summon him down through the long hall 30
And place him in the infusion center,
Where all of the ‘pre-meds’ wait to enter
His veins. The pre-med injections are done.
He thinks about how this trip had begun.
