Inside the Whale

By James Sale

On the 23rd July 2011 I collapsed in the car as my wife was driving me to visit my mother and brother in Essex. I was taken to hospital and there for about three months, with brief interludes, I remained. I had two major operations lasting over 5 hours each. Two sarcomas were removed, one the size of a grapefruit, the other the size of an avocado, both in my small intestine, and one very dangerously placed. Some 30% of my small intestines were removed and then for nearly five weeks I couldn't eat or even drink water. I lost over 56 pounds in weight and became remarkably weak. In the darkness, the light of the Spirit shone and I felt the healing, and knew from the revelation that was given me that I would leave that hospital, for as my son, Joseph, subsequently said: my mission was not yet done. These poems, then, are the fruit of that experience. I have been writing poems for over 45 years and if anything could, death has deepened my sense of vocation around the magic and the healing power of words.