Stefanie Spielman Poem by Joe Rosochacki

Only forty two,
Today it is debated whether mammograms should be given to women under fifty.
Stefanie Spielman was only thirty,
When she was diagnosed,
even though,
She wasn't fifty.
She had fought back, four remissions up to fifth, breast cancer won.
But did it?
Did it defeat Stefanie Spielman?
She, among many women, and men, has taken the war of breast cancer to task,
How did she do it?
You may ask.
Stefanie has publicized her condition in a most appropriate time,
-albeit posthumously.
With all this talk about universal health care, a single payer system - it's not sublime.
A task force was created by the government to calculate the loss/ benefit value of the
--mammogram.
Billions of dollars go to Wall Street, yet the government wants to know how to cut cost,
-that is why they give damn.
True the genetic content of our DNA is or is not to blame.
Why fix something that's not broke all the same?
So the women and men that suffered breast cancer,
and those who passed away trying to defeat this mutant arrays of cells,
One day will know the answer.

11-20-09