The Invisible Enemy Poem by Paul Reed

You prey on those you perceive as weak
Not for you the courageous streak
You re-invent yourself in different guise
And invade the spirit that you despise;

With cunning tiptoe you squirm and wind
And spread your poison in the kind
You block the sun and fur the pipe
Even steal the rags of the guttersnipe;

The soundless tune you raise a notch
Spread canker, lesion, stain and blotch
Only to disappear in the dead of night
With inward breath and scourge of fright,

And then, as if to prove your tempered rigour,
Reappear at dawn with insouciant vigour
To stamp on hope with fearless boot
Lies sustain and truth refute;

Demand replenishment when the well is dry
Cast cold stare with sightless eye
Demonise the placid and peaceful soul
Feast on it's innards from which you stole;

To regenerate your miserable apparition
The corroded and rotten requisition
And walk again, though foully lame
To absolve yourself of any blame