Dear Cancer,

You may have gotten inside us

but you cannot get the best of us.

You might be robbing us of some of our joys

but you will never steal our blessings.

You can break us down

and you can try to break what we’ve built

but you will never tear us apart.

You can turn things upside down

and you can turn the other cheek when our tears burn

with salt

and sadness

but you cannot

and I repeat:

cannot

turn us into anything

less

than love.