Look beyond the sterile walls,

Where well ones fear to tread,

And buried in the concrete there,

You'll see a girl who's dead.

You won't see any body, though,

For while this soul is gone,

Another has taken its place;

The body yet lives on.

So how has one soul been usurped

And cast aside like trash?

It started with a fever

That had burned the girl to ash,

And pains that wracked her tiny form.

Each breath became a cough

That sliced her chest to bloody shreds.

The bug wouldn't die off,

So off she went to clinic,

And after a few tests,

The doctor told the mother,

"Well, I think it would be best,

To send her to a friend of mine --

I'm really quite unfit

To diagnose what's wrong."

But the mother, whose sharp wit

Could see through every childish lie

Her offspring could deliver,

Knew what the doctor wouldn't say

And let out a small shiver.

She took the unwell child

To the designated place,

And without warning, there began

A terrifying race.

The girl knew not the going-ons --

She simply wanted peace,

And for her painful suffering

To permanently cease,

But all of those around her

Had to race against the clock,

For time was short; unknowingly,

The girl on death's door knocked.

Surgery occurred, and then

The doctors could concur;

The illness had a name at last.

It was the monstrous CANCER.

Eight months of treatment flew on by.

The girl, she bravely fought,

And unbeknownst to all,

A horrid consequence was wrought.

For while the girl endured her Hell,

Her mind had grown so jaded,

That as her body withered,

So too had her spirit faded.

Eventually it came to pass

That on the final day

She stepped into the hospital

Her soul began to stray

Away from the weak clutches

Of her body -- nay, her prison,

And as she lay herself to rest

A new soul it was given.

The girl allowed herself to sleep;

Her trial, now completed,

She passed on to the other side

And there was kindly greeted.

 

All this is speculation

On the part of the new soul,

Who never knew the other for whom

She assumed her role

As Halle Dirks -- for she is I,

And while I have survived,

I always take time to recall

The one who was alive

Before this me -- the one before,

Who rests 'neath sterile walls,

Never to step foot outside

Beyond her barren halls.

She is the true hero

Who beat back the savage beast.

For her service I am grateful

Though her life has long since ceased.

Now, cynical and weary,

And without giving a damn,

I live on in her memory

Because this is who I am.