The Complete Guide for Parents of a Child With Type I Diabetes

James Tyner

Chapter 1: There will be blood.

It will seep from the edges of steel, it will flow

out in steady pumps at blood tests, 

you will randomly find it on your hands, 

your fingers, when needle tips glide against

you after giving injections, opening you up

like questions, opening you up

like a medical bill that makes no sense.

Chapter 2:  There will be pain

The needles and meters will not go

into you, but into the flesh of the one

you want to protect.  You will feel it,

like first love, like last love.  But they will

carry it. They will lie and smile, they will

lie and tell you it’s okay as needle enters

arm, as tears run past smiles,

as the needle enters finger tips.

And no matter what anyone tells you,

you can hear it, the faintest of pops

as needle pushes past skin.

Chapter 3:  Keep moving

There is hope in the everyday. There’s hope

in the counting of dinner, each carb translated

into meaning, each measured ounce of insulin,

the fear of accidentally giving too much or too little,

of holding their lives in a plastic and metal syringe

will become your everyday.  The fact that a part 

of them will no longer work forever is not your fault,

it is now just a day, it is a movement, it is what we do 

as parents to translate loss to normal, to use love

as healing.

About the Author

James Tyner is a librarian and a poet. His poetry has appeared in many journals including Avatar Review, Blood Orange Review, and more. His award winning poetry chapbook “The Ghetto Exorcist” was published by Autumn House Press. He served as the first poet laureate of Fresno, CA.