Below is a winter solstice poem letter I wrote to our neighbor who is undergoing chemotherapy for a melanoma cancer in her abdomen. Our cul de sac dedicated an outdoor Christmas tree to good wishes for her recovery, this was my offering.

She doesn’t have much appetite but loves the corn muffins I’ve been making for her after each treatment.

They kept her in the hospital for 6 days during the first treatment, an intravenous drip designed to attach the tumor. The subsequent treatments, 6 in total are done at home. She’s nearing the halfway mark. The prognosis for a complete cure is excellent.



Stephanie,

In 1582 Pope Greg took it upon himself to correct the Julian calendar, a holdover of Roman times, by making a slight adjustment to the number of days, short changing February, codify “30 days has September, April, June and November, all the rest have 31,” and he still managed to get it wrong, missing that today’s the day, the Winter Solstice, the real day of new beginnings, leaving January 1, where it was, 10 days after the proper beginning, the day the harmony between the earth and sun had agreed upon eons ago.

Today, the Winter Solstice is signaling the return of the light and new beginnings. It is my wish that it be your special day, the day the earth turns toward the flowers of spring, the chance of corn muffins and brighter futures. And that in the blink of a few short weeks you will be free from all of this, with a proper appetite for the strawberries and apricots of spring.
Love,

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Warren Crane  © 2025.  Used with the permission of the author.

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Prose

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