Transcription: Phone Call, 2018: A Mother's Love in Illness

Listen to Journal of Clinical Oncology's Art of Oncology poem, " Transcription: Phone Call, 2018 " by Elane Kim, a student at Harvard College. The poem is followed by an interview with Kim and host Dr. Mikkael Sekeres. Kim shares her poem that lingers in the spaces between words; a mother and daughter navigating illness and memory. TRANSCRIPT Narrator: Transcription: Phone Call, 2018 , by Elane Kim Spiculated mass, irregular contours. Can you come to translate these words? Something in the lung. Yes, I am eating well. Birds, green ones, are nesting outside the window. Singing as if they aren't young but dying. Lately, I have been singing. Since we last spoke, the snow has melted into pearls. Rare and pale, glittering like it's the last time you'll ever see it. Will you come see it? In Korea, we say magpies bring good luck. I dreamt of one the last night I slept well. Though you are my daughter, I feel like a child. In our language, the word for cancer comes from the character for mouth. The fruit you bought is too tough to swallow. The cough is worse in the mornings and after rain. When you were younger, you loved the rain. If I could do anything, I would like to see the snow. To see it for the first time again, the cold a shivering afterthought. Time passes in pieces: one appointment, then the next. Monday, can you ask the doctor about the prescription? Will it be stronger? Every new day is an empty one. No appetite. No warmth. I hope I did not give you a rotten body, my body. Will I be stronger? I feel a shattering inside. Hello? You are breaking up. Remember to eat well, daughter. Remember to call home. Dr. Mikkael Sekeres: Hello and welcome to JCO's Cancer Stories: The Art of Oncology , which features essays and personal reflections from authors exploring their experience in the oncology field. I'm your host, Mikkael Sekeres. I'm Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami. Today we are joined by Elane Kim, a student at Harvard College. In this episode, we will be discussing her Art of Oncology poem, "Transcription: Phone Call 2018." At the time of this recording, our guest has no disclosures. Elane, what a joy to have you on our podcast. Welcome and thank you for joining us. Elane Kim: Thank you so much for having me - very excited. Dr. Mikkael Sekeres: So am I actually. Elane, I was wondering, I think you may be one of the youngest authors we've accepted a piece from. You had an absolutely gorgeous poem that you submitted to us and we were so thrilled that you chose us for your submission and ultimately that we were able to publish it. Elane Kim: Oh, that's so exciting. Dr. Mikkael Sekeres: So, can we start out with just kind of some general questions about you? Can you tell us about yourself? Where are you from? And walk us through how you reached this point in your career. Elane Kim: I'm originally from California, but I moved to the East Coast for college and I'm also a writer. I love to write fiction and poetry. When I first started writing, I wrote for fun for a really long time, but I started to kind of take it seriously in middle school because I went to this one slam poetry event and I remember I went home and I told my mom, "I am going to be a poet." And so ever since then, I've been writing poetry and it's been really awesome for me because it's my way of expressing myself and translating my world into words and having a space where I'm able to experiment fearlessly. So I love to write and it's been a journey for me because I started publishing little poems here and there. And now my debut full length is coming out early next year with a small and lovely press. So I'm very excited and also honored to be on this podcast with you. Dr. Mikkael Sekeres: Elane, I can tell you as a parent of a daughter who's a rising senior in college, it's every parent's dream when your child comes home and says, "I want to be a poet." So the questio

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