L.

funny how someone you barely knew
when you were younger,
can be gone now &
in retrospect, the horror of such a
young passing, can shake you
in the present---
for with beautiful beryl eyes &
a gorgeous smile,
accompanying the confidence &
wherewithal to confront a cocky
young male who thought his shit didn’t
stink,
she lit up the room &
only later did she begin to fade
when the doctor discovered that she
had breast cancer &
at 22, she hadn’t a dollar to spend on
health care,
in this wonderful 1st world country that
refuses to create a universal system like
that of England, Canada, France or
Australia---
i remember hearing about her older brother &
younger brother, who were both in local
bands, putting together a benefit concert
to try & raise the money necessary,
an innocently naïve notion if there ever was
one, but they loved their sister &
though so many did come to give,
by the time, in months,
the procedures were financed,
the cancer had spread throughout her body.