Als, The Quiet Killer Poem by Patti Williams

No more tender moments.
No more soft caress.
No more sweet surrender.
No more quickened breath.

This body cannot function.
It lays in this cold bed.
Yearning for affection,
Knowing that it's dead.

Cannot try, cannot cry,
Cannot hold you closely.
Cannot live, cannot give.
Cannot love you only.

Watching you, missing you.
Wishing you were nearer.
Loving you, wanting you.
Can't believe you're still here.

We pretend, we deny, we refuse to accept.
This cruel disease has stolen our time.
It's taken my body though I'm still alive.
Trapped inside this empty shell,
Wasting away, in living Hell.

Alone in the dark, I cry secretly.
Waiting for death to come escort me.
Even though I can't breathe on my own,
I know when I die, I'll be all alone.

No more walks, holding hands.
No more ways to love my man.
No more breathing in my ear,
No more whispers for me to hear.

Cannot say how we feel,
Cannot stir those feelings.
We must pretend that we are strong;
Must behave like there's nothing wrong.

Oh, to hold you one more time;
This body is no longer mine.
How can we forget all the dreams we had?
ALS says, 'Just too bad.'

We no longer have forever,
Cannot even be together.
How can we have hope tomorrow,
When all that's left is full of sorrow.