Herbert

I wrote this for my step-father, Herbert Roberts when he received his first cancer diagnosis in 1982. Almost ten years earlier he'd been crushed in a car accident and had to undergo several years of agonizing surgeries and rehabilitation and a life time of pain.


Herbert

Death I comprehend
it happens to us all,
but this suffering
it makes no sense,
has no justice,
I do not understand.
You were too strong,
too full of life
to become so broken.
And when finally
living once again
betrayal struck within,
no reason for or why,
simply striking.
You've hurt so long,
been so brave,
I've never seen your tears;
so with love and prayers
I give you mine,
still not understanding.

Billings, Montana - January 1982