| Creative writing can be a powerful tool for stress | | | | years after the diagnosis,thirty percent are dead. |
| relief. Here's how it works: | | | | Then I tell myself it doesn't matterfor today. I could be |
| Write about what bugs you, either in journal entry form | | | | crushedby a falling airplaneon my evening walk |
| or as poetry. | | | | tomorrow. |
| There have been scientific studies on this that showed | | | | I might live three months,or three years, or thirty,and |
| that it really works. You're taking the stuff that's | | | | there are two hot cups of coffeeon my breakfast |
| festering deep inside you and bringing it out in the open. | | | | table. |
| It's a "mind dump". First of all, it has a whole lot less | | | | You too may want to try writing poems about |
| power over you once it's on a piece of paper. You | | | | whatever it is that makes you feel down (they don't |
| can even rip the paper into shreds and so physically | | | | have to be "good" in the traditional sense). Still, |
| destroy what has been bugging you. | | | | sometimes it helps to aim for a more challenging form, |
| Shaping your thoughts and feelings into poetry takes | | | | a sonnet for example, because one of the benefits of |
| this process one step further. In fact, turning misery into | | | | writing poetry lies in taking that aggravating life |
| poetry can be very self-empowering. | | | | experience and taking control of it, shaping it any way |
| I'm a poet now, among other things, complete with a | | | | you want and reclaiming your power. |
| very cool published book of poetry (with a "real" | | | | Here's another poem, a villanelle, with very strict rules |
| publisher!): Average C-Cup. But I wasn't always a poet | | | | on repeating lines and rhyme schemes. Working to |
| -- or even a particularly good writer. I didn't start writing | | | | shape the experience to fit into the form really helped |
| poetry in earnest until I had breast cancer. | | | | me get out of the self-pity zone. |
| At that time, writing helped me cope with the | | | | Chemoceremony |
| treatments and my fears. Journaling and then turning | | | | I go to war, a needle in my veinfor chemo drugs to find |
| some of the results into poetry helped me transcend | | | | and kill the cellsout to destroy me. I won't let them |
| the pain and reclaim a sense of control. I could take | | | | gainan inch. Twice monthly, I show up and |
| my experience and shape it at will. What power! | | | | feignbravado as I lie, eyes closed, the smellsof war |
| Here's one of the poems about that time: | | | | around me, needle in my vein. |
| I'm Here Now | | | | I clear my chemo days of all that's inane. |
| Metathraxate, Cyclophosphamate,and the anti-emetic | | | | Basking in Wagner's operas quellsmy impulse to give |
| Ondansetron -every first and second Thursdaythey | | | | up, let cancer gainon me. Singing Valkyres keep me |
| drip into my vein as I liein a Barcalounger, feet | | | | sane,remind me I have power to defeat hell'scells - |
| up,reading New Yorker cartoonsand Reader's Digest's | | | | those needles won't have been in vain. |
| Campus Comedy. | | | | Warm showers later wash away the painwith scents |
| I liked the Barcalounger so much | | | | of lilacs and gardenia bath gels,breakfast on my |
| I bought one. | | | | balcony helps me regainstrength as I breathe freely |
| * | | | | after the morning rain;croissants, hot Mocha Java, all |
| How are you feeling? Everybody asks,but they don't | | | | that tellsme why I fight and sacrifice my veinto kill the |
| want to know. | | | | cancer: There's too much to gain. |
| They want me to say I'm okaybut I don't, so they stop. | | | | Haiku, probably the easiest form for a newbie poet, |
| * | | | | can be a good place to start if you'd like to experiment |
| The scalpel cutting into my breastsliced it like roast | | | | with turning your experiences and feelings into poetry: |
| chicken,taking out the offending portionwith a margin of | | | | Writing poetry |
| error. | | | | Can help you survive tough times, |
| When the nurses talked about it,they called it CA, like | | | | And come out thriving. |
| California. | | | | Okay, this isn't a terribly good haiku, and it wasn't |
| Never cancer. | | | | particularly meant to be, though it does fit into the |
| Did they do that for my sakeor theirs? | | | | simple 5-7-5 syllable form. The key is to have fun with |
| * | | | | it. Why don't you try to write one yourself? How about |
| Seventy percent five-year survival ratemeans five | | | | right now? |