A child enters the room
The innocence overwhelming
How do you, how can you
Explain – no justice, no reason
Just sickness and doom.

Tears and fears prevail
The eyes, they take hold
Of your very soul.
Responsibility overwhelms
Emotions cloaked thoughts dwell.

Treatments, experiments
Happiness again
Remission, hope resurfaces
For a while anyway,
The sparkle is back in a sense.

How do you, how can you
Survive another day.
Recurrence, repentance
Never-ending, relentless
The suffering – what to do?

The courage, the child
Much more than yours
Admiration is a given,
Exhausting your efforts
You manage a smile.

So much is taken
From you and the child
No understanding
Of how and why
Another heart breaking.

Sheila Leger
Department of Pediatrics