The Anchor

 I rise before the break of light,

While silence holds the fading night.
The world still sleeps, but I begin,
A quiet strength beneath the skin.

My name won’t grace a headline page,
But I show up, shift after stage.
In halls where hope and heartache meet,
I steady hands, I move my feet.

In hematology’s long fight,
Where blood betrays, then begs for light,
I change the sheets, I check the line,
I catch the signs between the signs.

In oncology, where futures sway,
I hold the ones who fade away.
I find the words when none will do,
I stay because they need me to.

At home, the eyes of those I love
Watch every move I’m worthy of.
They do not see the gowns, the charts,
Just me, returning, bruised in parts.

But I am more than tired bones,
I am the roots beneath their home.
For them I rise, for them I stand,
With gentle voice and steady hand.

No cape, no crown, no grand applause,
Just purpose carved from silent cause.
To care, to give, to always show,
When life says stay, and others go.

So let the winds of burden blow,
I’ll hold my ground, I’ll never go.
For family’s love and patients’ trust
Are weight enough to make me just.

And in the dark or breaking dawn,
I carry both,
And still walk on.