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Poetry and Oncology
September 26, 2024

Heartbreaker

Author Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York
JAMA Oncol. 2024;10(11):1600. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.3912

I broke your heart today.
I didn’t want to, but now it’s done.
Knowing his favorite candy would never taste as sweet,
that the sound of a child’s laugh would sting
just for a moment before making you smile,

I broke your heart today.
I cut deep and clean, wielding words like knives.
Despite the desperate, pleading look in your eyes,
the silent request for me to say something else
or even nothing at all,

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