Buoyancy: a memoir
Buoyancy is a heartfelt account of Jeannie’s faith, hope, and strength during an unfortunate journey. Jeannie is an adept writer who combines the right amount of candor with masterful descriptions of her emotional journey. In the book, we are reminded of the unpredictability of cancer and the challenges presented when other life tragedies happen to coincide. I shared this book with my sister, who is face first in Stage IV lung cancer’s lap; she wept, but she related, she felt comforted, and she felt renewed hope for the future as Jeannie’s astonishing endurance was a true inspiration to her.
Linda Schreiber
Chippewa Falls, WI
Jeannie begets love and that love grows from her and beyond her and then grows some more. Her family, friends, community, art, poems, gardens, beloved dogs, fun-loving smart-ass sense of humor, candor, vulnerability and indomitableness are revealed in these pages.
--Amy Ballestad, Heart of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
So much love is in this memoir! Only a fine poet whose touch is light as a feather can levitate her readers with words the way Jeannie Piekos does with her cancer memoir, Buoyancy. This book and its author are beautiful and brave and strong and will make readers feel beautiful and brave and strong.
--Mike Hazard, writer whose companion is a cancer survivor
As a poet, Jeannie Piekos has demonstrated a gift for the image that pulls the reader out of habitual and trivial ways of seeing, and into depth. As a person, she has weathered a harrowing journey into life-threatening illness without letting her soul be intimidated. She knows that the question is not whether our hearts will break, but rather “what we do with
than brokenness.” With BuoyancyBUOYANCY, she has done a fine thing.
--Thomas R. Smith, Author of The Foot of the Rainbow and The Glory
Cancer is a scourge upon the modern human landscape. In this deeply personal memoir, Jeannie Piekos reflects with poetic beauty on the harsh realities of cancer treatment and the saving grace of human connection. Through her honesty and strength, she invites us into the fullness of life, no matter what the day may bring.
~Rev. Mary Bohman, Hospice Chaplain, Cancer Survivor
This memoir grapples with the uncertain journey of cancer and the discovery of how it changes everything in life. Through poems and vignettes of a soul swept into the swirling waters of this murky disease, Jeannie Piekos’s Buoyancy delivers an honest mixture of the dark rages and fears following diagnosis as well as the balm necessary to rediscover one’s inner core. All of us should hope to handle the disease’s ambiguities and diminishments with the same grace and ingenuity Jeannie Piekos presents in this book.
--Lynette Reini-Grandell, author of Approaching the Gate and Wild Verge
I just got a deep drink from the Jeannie Piekos memoir, Buoyancy! Cancer is experienced as metaphor and as distressed flesh. Cancer is despair, a daily companion, and a relentless teacher full of the surprises of the unknown. At times, in retrospect, the cancer journal and journey can eventually be seen as a painful blessing. Jeannie’s writing, both the poetry and narrative, is an engaging read. It is practical and mystical. It also possesses what proves to be a saving grace: Tthe struggle of the writer to write with no escape from being the engaged patient. Cancer happens to the individual and all who love the person so challenged to battle on three3 fronts: the disease itself, the blessings and curse of the medical system, and in the field of the writer who translates the lived experience into words for the world to read. Thank the Goddess, this woman bounced back up to the surface!
--Louis Alemayehu, Educator, Environmental Justice Organizer, Oral Poet, Spiritual Elder
Linda Schreiber
Chippewa Falls, WI
Jeannie begets love and that love grows from her and beyond her and then grows some more. Her family, friends, community, art, poems, gardens, beloved dogs, fun-loving smart-ass sense of humor, candor, vulnerability and indomitableness are revealed in these pages.
--Amy Ballestad, Heart of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
So much love is in this memoir! Only a fine poet whose touch is light as a feather can levitate her readers with words the way Jeannie Piekos does with her cancer memoir, Buoyancy. This book and its author are beautiful and brave and strong and will make readers feel beautiful and brave and strong.
--Mike Hazard, writer whose companion is a cancer survivor
As a poet, Jeannie Piekos has demonstrated a gift for the image that pulls the reader out of habitual and trivial ways of seeing, and into depth. As a person, she has weathered a harrowing journey into life-threatening illness without letting her soul be intimidated. She knows that the question is not whether our hearts will break, but rather “what we do with
than brokenness.” With BuoyancyBUOYANCY, she has done a fine thing.
--Thomas R. Smith, Author of The Foot of the Rainbow and The Glory
Cancer is a scourge upon the modern human landscape. In this deeply personal memoir, Jeannie Piekos reflects with poetic beauty on the harsh realities of cancer treatment and the saving grace of human connection. Through her honesty and strength, she invites us into the fullness of life, no matter what the day may bring.
~Rev. Mary Bohman, Hospice Chaplain, Cancer Survivor
This memoir grapples with the uncertain journey of cancer and the discovery of how it changes everything in life. Through poems and vignettes of a soul swept into the swirling waters of this murky disease, Jeannie Piekos’s Buoyancy delivers an honest mixture of the dark rages and fears following diagnosis as well as the balm necessary to rediscover one’s inner core. All of us should hope to handle the disease’s ambiguities and diminishments with the same grace and ingenuity Jeannie Piekos presents in this book.
--Lynette Reini-Grandell, author of Approaching the Gate and Wild Verge
I just got a deep drink from the Jeannie Piekos memoir, Buoyancy! Cancer is experienced as metaphor and as distressed flesh. Cancer is despair, a daily companion, and a relentless teacher full of the surprises of the unknown. At times, in retrospect, the cancer journal and journey can eventually be seen as a painful blessing. Jeannie’s writing, both the poetry and narrative, is an engaging read. It is practical and mystical. It also possesses what proves to be a saving grace: Tthe struggle of the writer to write with no escape from being the engaged patient. Cancer happens to the individual and all who love the person so challenged to battle on three3 fronts: the disease itself, the blessings and curse of the medical system, and in the field of the writer who translates the lived experience into words for the world to read. Thank the Goddess, this woman bounced back up to the surface!
--Louis Alemayehu, Educator, Environmental Justice Organizer, Oral Poet, Spiritual Elder
Buoyancy: Living between dualities
"I loved your film so much, and everyone who sees it will feel the same. There's just so much heart and hope and love. There's so many wonderful layers to contemplate - your relationship with each other, her relationship to herself and to her writing, her husband and family. The film is so beautifully shot, too, and to know that you did it all solo. It's really a major achievement. I certainly hope you're basking in all kinds of glowy goodness. You deserve it."
~Marisa Helms, writer, journalist
"Bravo, Will, brava, Jeannie! Afterimages from Buoyancy continue to illumine."
~Mike Hazard, writer, photographer & video artist whose companion is a cancer survivor
"Will created a small masterpiece here." ~Warren Park, composer, musician
~Marisa Helms, writer, journalist
"Bravo, Will, brava, Jeannie! Afterimages from Buoyancy continue to illumine."
~Mike Hazard, writer, photographer & video artist whose companion is a cancer survivor
"Will created a small masterpiece here." ~Warren Park, composer, musician
