Cleaner- Invisible Warrior

By Elizabeth Widdowson

Highly Commended, ‘Written Word’ Category

You are the invisible warrior
But I see you
You’re a shadow in a room of fast moving bodies
But I see you

Your movements are not slow, but careful, intentional
You are at war with the invisible
You battle in silence, no one else around you can see the feud
Until there’s wounding
You are at war with the invisible

As the enemy breeds and weaponizes
You face it first
You confront and blockade it from those around you
You face it first
A bodyguard in the shadows

Deep into this war, the enemy remains unseen as it rises
You hold it back
In the battle your hands are weaponized, risking themselves to defend and protect
You hold it back

It is unfathomable that you can battle so fiercely
With something so deadly and yet, invisible

A frontline fighter
And yet poorly praised and pitifully paid
A frontline fighter
Battling on our behalf, at the heart of the campaign
A frontline fighter

You find and kill the invisible killer
Cleaner, invisible warrior

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Written Word ‘Hand’ poems