Disease Poem by Kate Benjamin

I have this disease of which I feel I'll never recover
It's consumed me
My heart
My love
My youth
My smile
My laughter
My mind
This seed
This diseased seed
Planted in my heart so long ago
Or was it
It's grown
Growing
Vines and roots outstretched
From my heart to encircle and
All but strangle me
I wish it would
I watch each and every moment pass
I am there
Right there
Yet I am not
I am restrained by the entanglement around me
Why won't they just kill the root that causes it
Cut it down
Aim at my heart
The center
I would
But these vines ever so deviously
Hold me to the floor
And all I can do is cry