The master thief
================

* Julie Bradley

*   Care of the elderly

> His came from the inside.
> 
> One of his own turned.
> 
> Insidious at first
> 
> Subtle, and easy to disregard.
> 
> Unseen, it was stealing
> 
>    Stealing balance
> 
>    Stealing deglutition
> 
>    Stealing memory
> 
> Forcing attention to its ravage
> 
> No longer able to ignore
> 
> It wanted
> 
> Everything.
> 
> But not a complaint was uttered
> 
> Not an angry word said
> 
> As energy dwindled
> 
> Movements labored
> 
> Independence abandoned
> 
> And the steadfast body could no longer be relied upon.
> 
> Stolen by the Master Thief.
> 
> Though It took so much
> 
> It could not win.
> 
> Courage –
> 
> the rarest kind.
> 
> Unfaltering.
> 
> The body. Succumbed.
> 
> The spirit. Impenetrable.

## Footnotes

*   Competing interests None.

*   Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.