Friday Book Review: Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg’s The Sky Begins at Your Feet

Cancer patient. The phrase brings to mind a bald head and a frail body, chilly in a thin hospital gown. The loss of hair, strength and tissue can reduce anyone to the basics of skin and bone, as the body undergoes war at the cellular level, invasive surgeries and waves of radiation and harsh chemicals.

But while the framework is generally the same — diagnosis, acceptance, treatment, survival or death — the stories of cancer are unique to the people affected. Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, poet laureate of Kansas, shares hers in The Sky Begins at Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community and Coming Home to the Body (Ice Cube Books, 229 pages, $19.95).

Although obviously an accomplished poet, in this volume Mirriam-Goldberg uses prose to describe breast cancer’s affect on her body, soul and family. Her writing style is straightforward and conversational, glittering occasionally with poetic images as the “bright green spread of swaying trees.” Nature is a powerful symbol for Mirriam-Goldberg, who lives on an acreage near Lawrence.

An environmentalist before cancer, she is actively protesting highway development that would displace people and encroach on native species when she’s diagnosed. Mirriam-Goldberg soon begins to view her own body like the earth — threatened and so very mortal, a home that she’s taken for granted most of her life. Cancer reminds her of the usual facts about life (it’s short) and what’s important (family and friends) as she undergoes treatment. But the writer’s analytical and creative mind helps her also draw connections between herself and the world outside.