She had two kids
a husband
a full time job.
Being tired
was normal,
expected.

A summer hike
rendered her dizzy
too weak almost
to finish.

By winter she found
herself passed out
at a concert.
Anemia they told her.

A pain in her stomach
Dismissed as an ulcer.
Tests and more tests
and finally
they discovered
the cells gone haywire
multiplying in the colon
spreading into the liver.

Four months they said.
A year later cells were all
she had become.
They ate her alive.
My mother.