It came a week before Christmas.
An uninvited guest demanding
to be fed; to be entertained
while exercising unrestrained access. 
Its name clung to the air
as fog trapped in the valley;
thick and bitter, we choked
on the damp reality.

Quickly it captured her body
as ivy strangles a garden.  Straining
she struggles to shake free
from the increasing intensity
of its grip.  Tangled
in tumors; trampled by treatment;
she falls still. Cancer
becomes a four-letter word.

Uninvited Guest
By: Jessica Bell