"In Service" : Sister Offers Sister a Rebirth

Editor's Note: Writers were asked to respond to the theme of "service' as part of Studio B Art Gallery's "In Service" project sponsored by a grant from the Berks County Community Foundation.

Sister Goddess and the Chimera

By Theresa Werba

“The blood appeared pale, serous, almost devoid of red globules, as if the vital spirit had been drained from it.”  ~Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis, 1830

“The blood no longer shows the red appearance that characterizes it, but rather a dirty yellow, sometimes almost white color. I propose to call this condition leukämie — white blood.” ~Rudolf Virchow, Weisses Blut, 1845

“In Greek myth, a chimera is a creepy combination of lion, goat, dragon – in humans, chimeras are one person who contains two sets of DNA.” ~Susannah Cahalan

Behold the sister goddess. Her very name
is Gloria Deo—glory to God. Her blood
has now been offered: for the life indeed
is in her rich, red, teeming blood, the cells
themselves. Stem cells stemming from the source,
the DNA. The vital energy
of this blood covenant, this sacred rite,
begetting through this divine, holy sacrament.
Blood to blood, blood sisters evermore
are two-in-one.

                               Sophia Theos— sister,
now chimera, wisdom of God, your blood
was morphed from ruby red to white.
Mutations randomly over-expressed white cells
meant to protect, strangling the red,
immature blasts blasting through your veins.
And not just one, but four mutations changed
your blood to milky white—leukemia,
AML, acute and myeloid.

You went to war against your cells, and fought
against a nearly-ruptured spleen; then pain,
and sores, and sepsis, rashes, and fatigue.
The chemo’s been a fight all by itself.
You said that cancer took so much from you;
Indeed your hair, and your fertility,
as well as medical school were tough to lose.
Yet you’ve always been a warrior. In strength
and youth you’ve overcome your adversaries
as you had done when you were lifting weights.

Your frozen ova await the future day
when they’ll be your babies; your hair long,
as long as the wig made from your own hair; Doctor
Sophia will help and heal the sick someday.

And now two sets of DNA expressed,
forever two-in one. Your second birth
through second blood, transplanting
vital spirit back to cells. Reborn,
a second birthday, second life. You stand
upon the dais as a champion,
a crown of baldness rests upon your head.
Your laurels lie upon your formidable strength.

All hail the sister goddess Gloria!
All great and glorious matching DNA !
Wisdom of the healers heals the Wisdom of God!
We bring our votive offerings of thanks
and gratitude and awe. Your sacrifice
propitiated cancer’s mortal sins.

All hail Chimera Sophia, the Vanquisher,
the Winning Warrior, our indomitable heroine!
Sophia the Fierce, Sophia the Defiant,
Sophia the Dragon-Slayer, Sophia the Conqueror!

Poet’s note: my 25-year old daughter Sophia was diagnosed with AML (acute myeloid leukemia) in August 2025 and underwent her stem cell transplant with on November 6th with my daughter Gloria as the donor.

*Theresa Werba is the author of eight books, including What Was and Is: Formal Poetry and Free Verse, and Sonnets, a collection of 65 Shakespearean, Spenserian, and Petrarchan sonnets, which is being expanded into 90-100 sonnets in a 2nd edition in 2027. Her work appears in numerous journals, websites, and online publications. She has been featured on Classical Poets Live where she discusses musicality and elocution in formal poetry. She is a contributing writer for Classical Singer Magazine. Werba’s background as a Classical singer informs her dramatic poetry readings which are available on Youtube @theresawerba. Her website is www.theresawerba.com.

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