The invisibility of it is enough
The way it walks around with us,
Mingles, awaits us, warns us,
Statistically part of so many.
We know causes, list them,
Warn ourselves against them,
Even joke about them at times.
The inevitability seems ironic,
So many of our favorite things
Have come back to haunt us.
We raise the money each year,
Through the mail, over the phone.
We walk, we bike, we bake, and
Plan again for the next two years
And beyond, as far as the best
Of us can foresee or imagine.
It’s like looking at a timeline for
The Crusades, the Hundred Years
War, the Thirty Years War, WWI
WWII, on and on, they keep up,
Keep coming, the endless causes,
Treatments and temporary solutions.