By HOLLIE ROBERTS

JEFFERSON, Iowa, Feb. 13, 2017 — A poem in honor of my friend Carla Offenburger, as she starts another round of cancer treatment.

—

Philippians, 4:13

My friend has cancer
This is not the first time, sadly.
Decisions have to be made:
What kind of treatment is best?

Should she enroll in a new “study”?
Should she try a new medicine?
Her doctor says surgery is not the best option:
She has done that twice before.

So we talk; while I fight back tears
she thinks about fighting cancer:
Anxious to get started,
Ready to do battle.

She shares information —
I am glad to know the plan.
I want to be one of her soldiers,
a supporter, her cheerleader.

She cannot give up this fight;
She has too much to offer
Too much to share
too much for the rest of us to lose.

I petition God:
Give us a cure, a miracle;
I ask, knowing
He does things in His own time.

So we will just wait;
patient, trusting.
As will the end of this poem wait,
until I can gleefully write a happy ending.

—

The poet Hollie Roberts is both a friend of Carla Offenburger and a work colleague, too, at Greene County Medical Center, where Roberts is director of the hospital’s foundation.  She is a regular member of the “First United Coven of Greene County” poetry group and her work has been widely published.  You can write her by email at hollie.roberts@gcmchealth.com or comment by using the handy form below here.