What lies beneath the plight of those weaving their magic in the halls of Ivy League
By sarah K Grundy
The Plush ivy Petals on those Plighting the Palace of Penn,
Bring a special sort of Prose to my Puckered Pout
Poets and Pioneers of impossible cures,
Plough through the Pias with Pints and Pianos.
"Keep your day job, but don't give up the dream," says the Scott Scientist, with his Shiny Silken Kilt and his wee Lilt,
Strumming his Strings of Savvy with Sincerity and Solace,
Full of heart, Song and Shining Sentiments brought Spirit to a Sit down with Serious faces, which yielded Stories of Sorrow, but ended in Success.
I'm marking this day, with my first identified prose in print, as a dedicated thanks to Dr. Andrew McGhie, who has invited me to the group at The Kelly Writer's House.
Upon my arrival in Philadelphia, this house called to me. Perhaps being named Kelly at birth, by my late father, in-sighted the calling. (At age two I demanded, "no me Sarah," in order to change my name to Sarah Kelly.
In February of 2014, after attending the first meeting, I realize I'd joined a group of legends in a house filled with glorious history. Thank you, Drew, for showing me the softer side of Laboratory Research, and the Structure of Hard and Soft Matter.
Reading from the poetry inspired by your train ride home, which could no doubt grace the pages of where Shakespeare resides, empowered me to pass a hugely intensive clinical research study audit, with ACRIN, the leader in optical imaging. Mary, the auditor, a love of a lady was reminiscent of Mrs. Doubtfire. We hugged and kissed at the conclusion of the three-day audit as I envisioned you strumming your guitar and sipping pints at the local pub. We dug into every dot on every "i", and every cross on every "t".
We scoured the medical records language of those who continue to suffer from this greedy disease. We contacted one of the breast cancer survivors, who had been in our study, requesting further information, she had just left the hospital moments before, still getting treatments years later, as the disease has spread.
Mary's eyes filled with tears while sharing stories of her sister who'd lost one of her children. Her other sister, she lost to breast cancer, which claimed her life at 45. This was the sour grape, which brought her into breast cancer research and she continues to race for the cure.
