Wood Smoke & Sawdust Poem by Tj Murray

I was raised by my grandparents, my grandpa being my father figure. We grew up in a small trailer in the middle of the woods, and I spent my entire childhood helping him cut wood for the wood burner. I remember the smells the most. I always remember him with a beer in his hand and a cigarette in the other. He was checked out by a doctor and they found traces of cancer in his throat, but soon after my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 and he completely ignored his own to focus on her. After she passed, his got worse, and they ended up taking his vocal chords to take the cancer. He's now 100% cancer free, but it came at a cost.