Light by Which to See

It’s only fair. After all, we asked you, the reader, to boil your complicated cancer and survivorship experiences down into the very short Japanese poetry form known as haiku. So we figured we should offer up some poetry as well.

Typically in this space you see an editorial written by one member of the Heal team on behalf of all the other people who lend their time and talents to the magazine. But in this issue we’ve brought you a multiplicity of staff voices and viewpoints, telling you — in our own attempts at haiku — how we view our work and our relationship with cancer patients and survivors.

Every one of us at CURE Media Group (which includes the staff of both Heal and CURE magazines) knows it is a privilege to bear witness to the courage and pluck that people exhibit daily in the wake of a cancer diagnosis. Sharing your experience helps light the path for others. And so we humbly offer you our own poetry, along with this observation by American novelist and poet Robert Penn Warren:

The poem is a little myth of man’s capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the poem is not a thing we see — it is, rather, a light by which we may see — and what we see is life.

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I crave more knowledge

and write down all that I find

it’s my gift to you.

Lacey Meyer, editorial assistant, on her research role at the magazines

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To feel so hopeful

Exposed to the human soul

Learning gratefulness

Darlene Card, circulation assistant, on her daily interactions with readers

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Cancer too young. Why?

Seasons pass, dream realized.

A life of meaning — healed.

Kathy LaTour, editor-at-large and 21-year breast cancer survivor

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Life is a teacher.

A new trip, a blank palate,

Is colored anew

Debu Tripathy, MD, editor-in-chief

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As I sit working

Making pages look pleasing

Helping people heal

Glenn Zamora, graphic designer

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Constantly striving

never understanding all

giving what I can

Alexandra Hurd, events coordinator, on her work with patients and survivors at CURE forums

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Life Interrupted

Frozen, like an ice cube tray

New life blossoms still

Susan McClure, publisher and 10-year breast cancer survivor

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Feelings of fear, sadness, pain

Breathing through the darkest hours

Knowledge gives renewed hope

Teresa Fararro, marketing representative

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Momentous topics

capture joy, convey caution

Life past cancer — deep.

Karen Patterson, Heal managing editor

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Words naked and bare

Strong images stir the soul —

now I understand

Susan Douglass, creative director

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Food is good, I write

It restores, rejuvenates

Feeds the soul, yum, yum

Lena Huang, contributing editor, on her role editing food/nutrition features

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Communication

Your Ad Here

Information needed —

readers make changes

Kristene Richardson, advertising manager

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Masters of cancer

Share uplifting words of care

Survivors listen

Elizabeth Whittington, CURE assistant managing editor, on reading survivor essays and covering oncology meetings

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Tell me your story

Brave and determined are you

The big C beware

Melissa Weber, CURE managing editor