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 s**t 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 1^st 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.