Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome back poet and writer Jim Landwehr of Wisconsin, who was last featured here in our second issue, “Water,” in 2019. In “A Long, Doctorish Word,” Jim tells his brother’s story, as an annoying bump turns out to be “a very rare form of bone cancer/ with a long name, meaningful only to doctors.” After the ordeal of removing a tumor from his spine, he is recovering for three months when the cancer comes back in another place. This time, the recovery afterwards is not his but belongs to his family: “his legacy for all of us is to live life with urgency/ as we continue to recover from his absence.” Jim’s narrative is simple and vulnerable, his restraint making the underlying emotion all the more heartbreaking. Recovery seldom means what we expect it to mean, and this reality is most obvious with cancer because of its complications and tenacity. Jim reminds us that it doesn’t happen only to the person who experiences it, but to all of their loved ones, family and community.
Read “A Long, Doctorish Word” in Synkroniciti’s “Recovery” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Jim Landwehr is a semi-retired twenty-first century cartographer and all-around Renaissance man. In his spare time, he fishes at every opportunity, takes an occasional bike ride, vacillates between coffee and tea, and scribbles out books and poetry. Next to his wife and his two above-average children, his four memoirs and six poetry books are his biggest pride and joys. He also has a short story collection coming out in 2026, but doesn’t like to brag. Well, maybe a little. He’s working towards a Pulitzer or even a Pushcart, but at the moment would settle for a few good Amazon reviews and a little beer money.