The Silent Killer
The Silent Killer
The silent stealthy cancer
Creeps and spreads inside
With no warning it's deadly rancour
When it strikes none can abide
Relentlessly eating through and through
As remorseless as a snake
Crushing muscle, bone and sinew
While asleep and while awake
No obvious initial warning
Nearly always something else
It opens doors to the dawning
That it's eating the body's wealth
From the victim it saps the very strength
And the hapless, helpless soul
Is unaware of the incessant length
That's draining what once was whole
It gnaws and rips, shreds and depletes
The energies once so strong
It's venom spreads, silently secretes
It's poison tumors it's oh so wrong
The afflicted in agony lose their senses
As they in vain combat this sin
As it destroys the body's defenses
They don't know where to begin
To fight this all pervading ill
As it spreads from pore to pore
White blood cells are also killed
As cancer seeps through to the core
Some victories are sometimes won
Though many more succumb
To this unseen killer that won't be gone
Which leaves so many numb
Not numb with pain these poor souls
Who suffer day by day
But numb with loss whose lives were whole
Now devoid they lose their way
The inexorable drain on life
Once full but diminished now
Is felt by everyone torn with strife
Who know not when or where but how
Sometimes conscience is pulled apart
And relief when the loved are gone
When the stricken are freed from misery
When their life in pain is done
But there's no respite for those in pain
Who try to fight their war
Who battle on relentlessly
Right up unto death's door
No one is ever ready
Whenever the time does come
When the body finally gives up its fight
When the final straight is run
It leaves behind myriad thoughts
For those who are left behind
To heal the hurt in those all caught
By that vortex so unkind
For those who win against this curse
And live their lives once more
We wish you nothing more adverse
May your full lives be restored
But those who fall and are taken
We can only hope and pray
That their afterlife is free from pain
As they tread along eternity's way
To those alive with loved ones lost
There is nothing this void can fill
Left by those departed
Except happy memories to instil
Within oneself to dull the ache
And soothe the troubled mind
To assuage the fears and not forsake
The memories. To yourselves be kind
Copyright © Thomas Mansfield | Year Posted 2016
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