the squeezing of the stone

dad waited 8 years

to tell him that

cancer had infiltrated his body---

dad waited 8 years to tell him that

he had done anything about it---

dad had to stop working &

when he put money in the market

under close supervision of someone

whom he thought would help him out,

the whole f*****g thing

collapsed,

like the house of playing cards that it was,

leaving only the kings & queens as always

to walk off scot-free

at a brisk pace

holding bags of money &

plane tickets---

dad’s money gone &

inability to work as he once did,

he began to watch all that he owned

leave his grasp

after working so hard for so many years

to do without credit &

to stay afloat the best that he could,

raising kids in the meantime &

saving that money for when times got tough,

for when he got old---

and so with less than 20 grand in the bank

he can’t shell out the money for the shots anymore,

not to mention the radiation---

the stone can’t be squeezed for blood to help

there’s just nothing left &

another great man will die because

america has no universal health care for its

citizens.