Submissions are welcome from oncologists, oncology nurses, and other cancer caregivers. E-mail only, please, to: [email protected], and include affiliation/title, address, and phone number, along with a photo, if available.
The Quiet Guardians
Solemn is the night
Where blood has been spilled
In the streets of paralysis
Not in the midst of War
But Battle of a different Ilk
The silent fires
Never-ending, senseless crime
Relentless non-front-page-heroics
Quiet CPR compressions
While the rest of us sleep in our homes
Tucked away from the mayhem of the streets
The first responders' task
Is seldom the work of glory
And yet their yeomen's' work
Is what keeps our families safe at night
When a first responder dies
It is his or her family that now suffers
And the many hitherto unknown victims
They would have saved from harms grasp
I weep for the 3-year-old son who, waiting to be read to at night finds out
His brave father
Who was killed in yesterday's fire
I weep for the 10-year-old daughter
Who will never again go to the movies with her police officer mother killed in the line of duty
I weep for the paramedic's son who will never again play chase around the house with his father
I weep for the steadfast spouses of all first responders quietly wondering if their mate is going to come home tonight
The calling and the sacrifice
The acts of selfless giving
To all the paramedics and firefighters and police officers and other first responders who keep our families protected
We all owe you and your families buckets full of our heartfelt love and thanks for all you do.
Poetry by Cancer Caregivers
NAVEEN PEMMARAJU, MD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. "Inspired by a recent, moving newspaper clipping I saw of a first responder who died here in town, I dedicate this poem to all of the first responders who keep us safe at night, as well as to their loving families," he said.