Silent Killer

May night, pernicious night
A dim eclipse.
   Chernobyl ash is in the air. No soul around.
The darkness has played awful tricks,
   Crippling veil threw her on the ground.  
Someone had found her. Called for help.
Young woman unconsciously laid on her back. 
Turbulence. 
An ambulance carried her in
Asking around if there is next of kin.
     My mother. 
A young vibrant woman.
Feeding the poor and sheltering gypsies.
   Was walking and working with a silent killer 
Till the doomed night when she faced him fiercely. 
   My mother, at thirty-seven. 
Once cheerful and blissful, she went into a coma
  I was just a child, not even eleven.
Life like a spindle turned fast and flipped over.

This was written many years ago, but it keeps resurfacing in my memory year after year.