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