Poems About Cancer  For Patients To Inspire Hope

Before sharing some poems about cancer, it’s important to know what it means. Imagine our body is like a big, bustling city with lots of tiny workers called “cells.” These cells usually work together and do their jobs to keep us healthy and up-to-date.

But sometimes, something goes wrong, and a cell starts to act differently. It doesn’t listen to the rules anymore, and it starts growing and multiplying too much. That’s when we call it “cancer.” Cancer is a word that holds within it both fear and hope. Cancer is one of the most challenging diseases anyone faces in their life.

There are many different types of cancer, and they can affect all kinds of people, young and old. It’s something we all need to learn about and help each other through.

I’m sharing these poems about cancer to talk about how people feel when they or someone they love has cancer. Sometimes, it’s like a big, dark cloud, and it can be really scary. But through cancer poetry and poems, we will help people to be strong and hopeful through this dark journey and not give up.

Poems about cancer are for all the brave people who are fighting cancer. I want to show that even in tough times, there can be hope and love. Feel free to share your own stories and thoughts, or even if you have your own poems about cancer or some cancer poetry, in the comments below.

“Cancer is a part of our lives, but it’s not our whole life.”

Nick Prochak

Dreams Poem About Cancer

Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

By Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.

Dreams Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

By Langston Hughes

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.

by Robert Frost

Read Poem

Passing Time

Maya Angelou

Your skin like dawn
Mine like musk

One paints the beginning
of a certain end.

The other, the end of a
sure beginning

“Faith” Is A Fine Invention

Emily Dickinson

“Faith” is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see—
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.

A Higher Calling

I did better than survive the surgeon’s knife,
removing my cancer cells, and
their insatiable appetite for life.
By the grace of God, I was called–
Not home—that unfamiliar place beyond,
but to stay right here, and work with souls
on this side of the mountain.

The Cancer Bad Dream

we want to be done with it,
before it’s done with us.

you reach a point,
even in the early stage,
where you want to believe
it’s just one big bad dream, and
hopefully you’ll awaken, and
you can return to your normal life–
the life you had before cancer.

but even if you’re lucky–
meaning your prognosis is very good–
you just want the bad dream to be over.

Prayer

God help us to see past our blind spots,
including our limited view of You, others, and ourselves.
Forgive us when we didn’t sacrifice enough for others,
when our compassion fell short,
and when we could only love conditionally.

Forgive us when we didn’t thank You
for the precious gift of life
You have given us.
Help us use our gifts to honor You
and bring about goodness in the world.

Winter Meditation

Winter’s eve drawing nigh,
Dark clouds hover, January sky,
Fading firelight, flickers gloom,
Dancing barefoot ‘cross the room.

Huddled shadows hushing night,
In your arms hold me tight,
Sharp-edged snowflakes fall so still,
White frost clings, nearby window sill.

Longing for what’s not there,
No comfort found, my rocking chair,
Sitting still, motionless,
Holding on, memories caress.

Brutal cold winter night,
Full moon shining, oh so bright,
Sitting still by the fire,
Surrender there, all desire.

Cancer as Spiritual Teacher

For each of us, life lessons to learn,
Meaningful truths to clearly discern,
Some lessons, mere cooking recipes,
Others, more demanding therapies.

Our spirits cry out when we are in pain,
A new understanding from which we can gain,
And if we are mindful and willing to change,
By opening to spirit, our life will rearrange.

Learning from cancer seems quite odd,
But listen, you’ll hear wisdom from God,
It’s all about balance, aligned living you could say,
Finding our essence, living it each day.

The spiritual lessons so far for me:
From fear and selfishness to be free,
And walk my path with trust and love,
Guided by healing wisdom from Above.

Look at your cancer, beyond a disease,
Its lessons abound for you to seize,
Be honest about what you see,
Spiritual truth is the key.

On Cancer and Poetry

When we have cancer,
we are willing to try anything,
including poetry,
to stay alive.

Poetry helps us step delicately
into the vast river of life,
wash off our assumptions, and
flow with the river’s healing currents.

Cancer is
the stretch of challenging rapids ahead.
Let’s brace ourselves, and
ride them with courage and grace.

Did you know poetry sometimes
can be more dangerous than cancer,
by bringing out things inside us
that we never knew were there?

When we have cancer,
let’s give poetry a try—
It’s alchemical brews
can turn our lead into gold.

Cancer’s No Joke, but It’s Okay to Laugh

Laughter won’t kill me, so why not bust a gut?
No harm in a chortled snicker or a devious snort
at the prissy old lady in the room next door
who punctuated the air with a loud squeaky fart.

Sitting with my bags in the northwest corner chemo suite,
I heard a nurse exclaim: Dunkin’ Donuts can’t be beat.
Then, in unison I heard everyone sigh:
the donuts are gone, so sad we could cry.

Almost peed my pants, laughing so hard,
when a senior oncologist let down his guard—
sharing advice with a young resident doctor;
straight from Mother Goose, my what a shocker:

“For every evil under the sun,
There is a remedy, or there is none.
If there be one, seek till you find it;
And when you find it, get thee behind it.”

A ride in the elevator, so very telling about life,
Shall I smoke a joint before chemo, a man asks his wife,
A punch in his chest she landed with might,
I feared at that moment there could a fight.

I urge you to give humor a chance,
Let jokes and laughter through your life dance,
Some craziness at times all of us need,
Laugh at yourself, start a healing stampede.

It Could Have Been Worse

A doctor, a man and his wife
Consider a problem in critical math
– “How many months?” to choose a life
The algebra one does on the path.

“One if by land – two if by sea . . . ”
What you hear is how you prepare.
Some choices in life demand that we
Walk on a trail we’d rather not fare.

As she’s forthright, yes, and also a nurse
The wife said “It could have been worse.“
The husband sat with a smile on his face
– Amused his wife had cut to the chase.

But it could not have been worse!
She should have said the reverse!
But, “two lymph tumors and mass”
Beats “time for treatment has passed.”

“The choice includes both”
He’s tempted to say.
But tomorrow must be chosen today.
The cancer calculus of life and death
– How much pain for how much breath.

So, make your choices as your days take wing.
We lucky ones get to live out “farewell.”
“It could have been worse”—a song to sing.
The length of the path only time will tell.

Donn Furman February 2022

These are the poems about cancer. I hope that everyone enjoyed these a lot.

FAQS