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Letters written to problems, not people – by everyday champions, like you.
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An adolescent attempts to solve an impossible equation to ensure diabetes management.

T1D (A Poem)

There is no intermission,
No curtain call,
No dimming lights –
Just numbers glowing in the dark.

It’s lows after midnight,
Math before breakfast,
And alarms that do not care
If I am tired.

They say “manage it” –
Like it’s a planner;
Like it fits into neat boxes.

But it lives outside the lines.
It bleeds into every moment.

I don’t think I am as afraid
Of the highs and lows,
As I am afraid
Of never getting a break.

The constant awareness –
The counting,
The calculating
The quiet fear of getting it all wrong.

Female, 17 y/o
Diabetes, Type I

cancerous cells to accompany a poetic letter written to cancer

Dear Cancer

NOTE (from the Author): I wrote & published this on my Instagram account because I lost my brother & step-mom to cancer – my sister successfully battled it.

Just some rogue cells
Drinking from the Fountain of Youth,
Trying to survive
In a hostile world,
Lashing out at all around
In anger and confusion.
You’re not like the others;
Uniform, compliant,
Following the rules.
You live in the margins,
A deviant,
Inflicting damage because
That’s all you know
How to do.
Dear Cancer,
Like all errant,
Atypical cells,
We will fight you
And we will win.

Female, 60
Daughter & Sibling