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Printed from https://writing.com/main/books/entry_id/922885-Finland-T1
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by Rhyssa Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ · Book · Contest Entry · #1912256
a descent into poetry insanity
#922885 added October 29, 2017 at 8:18pm
Restrictions: None
Finland: T1
one, two, three . . .
this morning
I counted people
on the way to church.
old, young, children—
so many children.
and I thought of Finland.
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen . . .

imagine, if one in ten
had blood turn to honey—
tearing through veins
with sharp crystal edges,
leaving blind eyes and
dead toes in its wake.
thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two . . .

imagine, if one in ten
must test their blood for sugar
before they eat,
before they sleep,
before they exercise,
before they drive,
before they make love
or play with their children.
fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five . . .

imagine, if no one knew
when the disease would strike—
six weeks,
six months,
six years,
six decades.
an autoimmune disease has no respect
for youth or age,
no necessity for family history,
no warning signs—
one day healthy, the next dying.
eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety . . .

imagine, no cure.
in Finland,
a one in ten chance
for finger sticks
and syringes
for the rest of a life.
five hundred fifty thousand
out of five point five million.

Author's Note

© Copyright 2017 Rhyssa (UN: sadilou at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Rhyssa has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
Printed from https://writing.com/main/books/entry_id/922885-Finland-T1