The development of a body of scientific knowledge about disease and illness necessarily identifies commonality—both of etiology and of remedies—yet healthcare itself must be sensitive to individuals and their specific circumstances. So too in the arts—in poetry—writers have learned from established practices of the past, and forms such as the sonnet, the villanelle, or the haiku provide templates for the individual insight and style of specific artists.

The poems in our December issue were submitted in response to September’s theme of pain, but, as a group, I found them so highly individualized, they seemed better suited to a grouping characterized by difference. In this issue, you will find some ingenious short pieces: Gloria Heffernen’s Petting Mr. Sandberg’s Cat, Mantz Yorke’s haiku Radiograph, and the humorous My Mother Briefs Me… by Fraser Sutherland. You will find innovation in AT Hincapie’s use of a well-known game show in Healthcare for a Thousand, Please and in Jessica Parker’s creation of a patient’s apologetic (and startling) letter addressed Dear Small Bowel, as well as in Victoria Crawford’s musical repetition of a single rhyme in Files Pending. Narrative and drama are here as well. You’ll be moved by Maya Wahrman’s Frances is staring at her plate as well as by Jill Sebacher’s This Is the Floor Where No Babies Are Saved and David Porter’s Paper Dragons.

Whatever challenges of body, mind, or spirit you may face during festive and, at times,  stressful holidays, or in the beginning of a new year, I pray the light and warmth provided by all of our poets will strengthen and cheer you until the sun returns with greater bounty, that benevolent gift that begs us to be fully alive.

Steve Granzyk is the poetry editor of Please See Me.