Helen

She smiled with her top teeth only,
Left the bottom plate in the glass
Beside her bed,
Because they hurt.
She walked beside the pain,
As if it wasn’t there,
Chest out,
Head held high,
She lay in bed,
And read, and read, and read
   Some more,
Escaping into better worlds,
She could only dream of,
For she was prisoner of disease.
   She did what she was told,
   And so she rests,
Like a dove before a flight.
She did her best
With what she had,
And looking back
She was a saint,
Cut from a diamond...
Helen.