The Crown

The Crown

Right from the time you first inhale,
I am within your very soul;
Living your life, you play and grow,
Hoping to live till you get old.

I roam undetected, through the years,
Picking my moment to mutate.
Probing and searching, cell by cell,
Choosing the place to infiltrate.

Nobody knows I’m lurking there;
Nobody figures, or suspects.
Tiny, malicious, biding time;
Beneath the radar lies my speck.

I am now clinging to my host,
All-consuming, I divide.
Hooked on to the weakest place,
You feel the tingling deep inside.

Nucleii helpless to my will,
Arterial highway plots my course.
Onward and inward, I am bound.
Merciless, spiteful, no remorse.

Resplendent in grandeur of my Crown,
Creating more subjects that obey.
Slowly corrupting all around.
Now at my mercy you decay.

Blissfully you’ve ignored the signs
That manifest in tiny ways;
“Nothing to worry ’bout, I’m fine.”
Still on the march I seize the day.

Slowly, infection spreads and preys,
Strangles your oxygen supply,
Building resistance to your blood,
Sending your temperature too high.

Now on the x-ray I appear,
My Kingdom of muscle blood and bone,
A crown of destructive, sneering power,
Knowing your body is my Throne.

Chemical warfare, heat and steel,
Taming my wildness, you vaccinate.
Disperse and re-group, and hide away,
Once more to split and procreate.

I am within your DNA,
I am your tissue and your vein,
I am within your blood and bones;
I have momentum once again.

Now you relax, and breathe alone,
Now that I know you’re off your guard,
I have my army mobilized,
Fending me off is twice as hard.

Triumph comes swift, no mercy shown,
Leaving you beaten, lifeless, cold.
My Crown, in pomp and circumstance.
Holding my sword above your soul.

By Doug 2020
(originally written in 2008 under the title “The Crab” which I used in link to Tenovus donation site on my Y360 blog. I have altered it’s context to fit today’s circumstances.)