A Villanelle
by Cristina Nehring (November 2024)
Whatever the cost you arrived right on cue.
Relationships fell through; the world was unhinged.
Of visitors like you there are only a few.
–
Your father was bitter; your mother was lost;
The future was as opaque as onyx.
Whatever the cost you arrived right on cue.
–
A child with an extra chromosome you
Took Paris by storm while it was dozing away.
Of visitors like you there are only a few.
–
You shook up the town; you exploded your family;
You conferred on all things a kind of gravity.
Whatever the cost you arrived right on cue.
–
The future became clear of a sudden; the past was dismissed.
From your little glass box in Intensive Care, you blessed all who cast their aspersions.
Of visitors like you, there are only a few.
–
No one was ready; no one knew what to do,
But they did it regardless and the sun resumed its place in the skies over France.
Whatever the cost you arrived right on cue.
Of visitors like you, there are only a few.
=
Table of Contents
Cristina Nehring‘s most recent book is The Child Who Never Spoke: 23 1/2 Lessons in Fragility. She is also the author of A Vindication of Love which made the front page of the New York Times Book Review as well as two books in French. She writes for Atlantic, Harper’s, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She lives in Paris with her daughter.
Follow NER on Twitter @NERIconoclast
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3 Responses
As usual, another splendid poem from you. As an aside, it seems that you might have a child with Down’s Syndrome. In a series of articles I’ve been reading recently about the wonders of the chemical DMSO in the healing of a wide variety of ailments, they mentioned its use in the treatment of Down’s Syndrome. This sounds odd as Down’s is generally thought to be genetically caused. Nevertheless, I thought you might be interested in reading about it:
“While I am very open-minded to unconventional medical ideas and knew DMSO could treat a variety of otherwise incurable neurological diseases (e.g., ALS), there was one thing I always had a bit of difficulty believing. DMSO allegedly had been shown to cure Down Syndrome, demonstrated both in three clinical trials (e.g., this one and this one) and numerous remarkable case reports that were presented by multiple corroborating medical witnesses in Congressional testimony, along with numerous studies showing DMSO improved the cognition and behavior of developmentally delayed children. To explain this impossible benefit, I theorized it was likely due to DMSO’s protein stabilizing benefits, as Down Syndrome is characterized by “the aberrant accumulation of unfolded/misfolded proteins resulting from over-burdened protein quality control systems.” – A Midwestern Doctor https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/how-dmso-treats-incurable-autoimmune?utm_campaign=email-post&r=8t4vc&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
A ‘cure for DS’ this is not possible – Down syndrome is a common genetic disorder that occurs at the point of conception when a fetus has an extra copy of chromosome 21. This extra chromosome changes how the brain and body develop, and is permanent.
Thank you so much, Carl–and thank you Rob as well–for both your generous compliment and for the information. I do indeed have a beautiful girl with Down Syndrome–and have trouble imagining a “cure” for it for the reasons Rob mentions, but, in all truth, were there such a “cure” I wouldn’t be sure of wanting to try it. My girl is an utter delight, and I would fear that somehow her bright, loving and joyous personality would be eliminated along with the DS. So happy my poetry is reaching and touching you!