
While I wouldn’t say that my cancer-related hospital stays were fun, I did my best to maintain a positive attitude and make the best of them.

John Smelcer is the author of 60 books, including a dozen books of poetry. His most recent collection is "Raven." For a quarter century, he was Poetry Editor at "Rosebud Magazine," where he currently serves as senior editor emeritus. From 2016-2020, he was the Inaugural Writer-in-Residence for the Charter for Compassion, the world’s largest compassion movement with over five million members in 45 countries.

While I wouldn’t say that my cancer-related hospital stays were fun, I did my best to maintain a positive attitude and make the best of them.

I finally finished cancer treatment, and for the first time in a while, tomorrow feels more certain.

I have only one more chemotherapy treatment left, but instead of being excited, I’m afraid that this final brutal treatment may be the end of me.

I exercised and ate healthy, yet still received a cancer diagnosis, leaving me wondering, “why me?”