The Thief

The Thief

By Shelli Ann

I don’t know how it happened,

You stole a piece of me.

I had lived my life so guarded,

But this was something I couldn’t see.

The changes started small,

But grew into something bigger.

Things would never be the same,

Our lives were changed forever.

You took away the strength he always seemed to show,

If you broke his spirit, one would never know.

Every day became a battle in a never ending war,

But he would not be defeated, he had been to war before.

His bravery never ceased to wonder & amaze,

For in spite of all his troubles, he never did complain.

Greeting every day with a smile upon his face,

But everyone knew things would never be the same.

All this time, his wife stood bravely by this man,

Through those final battles, she gently held his hand.

Until the day came when the war was finally done,

Little did she know, another fight was still to come.

What seemed like a short while was actually a few years,

Searching for strength amidst the sorrow and the tears.

We thought that you were gone, but you would soon return,

It wasn’t long before life would take another turn.

Finding peace in the struggles that she didn’t understand,

She had already lost so much at your hand.

Yet, her strength would still be tested in what was to come.

Rarely did she complain, but prayed God’s will be done.

In all her trials and sufferings, we watched her fight with grace,

Every day she met you with a smile upon her face.

Although you tried to break her, she would not let it be,

Until the day came when she joined her heavenly family.

I thought that you had taken all that you could take,

But broken hearts were just the start.

You came in like a thief that no one was expecting,

And soon tore my world apart.

It began another time with the strongest man I knew,

In the midst of his hard battle, he lost a part to you.

As we watched him daily, fighting a good fight,

In the end, he won and we thought he would be alright.

We could not have predicted what would happen next,

Or how quickly things would change.

It began as just a simple illness,

But things would never be the same.

She was the rock, the glue that held everyone together,

No one would have guessed she was fighting her own battle.

After weeks of treating symptoms, she seemed to be getting better,

But the illusion soon faded, changing quickly like the weather.

Each day, I watched the strongest woman I knew,

Keep her normal routine and fight to make it through.

She gave everything she could give to those who were in need,

No one really knew the troubles that could not be seen.

You came back so swiftly, like a thief in the night,

Coming so unexpectedly, we were all in disbelief.

Though she fought a brave fight,

She was gone within a week.

Now there is a void where her presence once was,

An ever longing desire to cherish the ones you love.

I never really want to say goodbye, just because,

I know they are looking down from somewhere up above.

I don’t know how it happened,

You stole a piece of me.

I had lived my life so guarded,

But this was something I couldn’t see.

Now I live with the fear that you can bring,

The unknown of the future can be a scary thing.

Every day I know that I will likely see you again,

And this is a battle I am determined to win.

Cancer, you are the thief that I still can not see,

You have stolen precious time from my wonderful family.

Leaving voids in our lives that only time can heal,

But you can not take my memories and you can not break my will.

© 2020 by Shelli Ann