[originaltext]Do you have cancer? Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or whether

Do you have cancer? Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or whether you’re in the middle of treatments, you’re probably in need for some emotional help. And writing poetry can provide that help, or at least some of it. Sure, at first glance that may seem like an absurd proposition, especially if you’re not yet a writer, but you may be surprised by the benefits you’ll reap if you give writing cancer poems a try. There are a number of reasons why writing, especially writing poetry, can help people cope as they go through difficult times. And being diagnosed with cancer and going through treatments most definitely qualifies as a difficult time. Here are two of the reasons. The first reason why writing helps someone who is going through cancer treatments is that the simple process of writing helps relieve stress. This has been tested in actual clinical studies, so it’s not just my own anecdotal evidence that supports it. In order to be helpful, the writing doesn’t have to be particularly “good,” though you may be surprised by what you’re able to create once you actually take pen in hand and start writing or once you start hitting the keyboard of your laptop. And while the title of this article mentions cancer poems, you don’t have to write poetry to get the benefit. Simple journaling will work just fine. But poems do offer extra benefits. Second, writing poetry helps express painful emotions. Whether you’re doing journaling or you’re going straight to poetry, you may find that experimenting with poetry is particularly helpful for expressing painful emotions. After all, a lot of poetry, is being written by anguished teenagers as they go through the pain of unrequited love. In fact, some very famous poetry, including some of the famous German poet Goethe, deals with that issue. So poetry lends itself to pouring out emotional pain. Once you have overcome the intimidation factor that poetry must necessarily be “difficult” —which is a myth— you’ll probably quickly discover one of its less intimidating aspects：It’s short! No need to write long essays or stories. A poem can be just a few lines. You can even create haiku— they just require 17 syllables that you can turn into focused pain relief. Another reason poetry helps express emotions is that it lends itself to metaphors. Sure, you can use metaphors anywhere, but poems practically beg for them. So you don’t have to be blunt— unless you want to be. Instead, you can find a suitable image that expresses what you feel— and put it in your cancer poem.
23. What has been tested in actual clinical studies?
24. What is the fact about some famous poetry?
25. What does the speaker say about metaphors?