There is a new disease
Haven't you heard?
It's called “expensive.”
It comes in so many forms
That there's no hope
For curing it.
In Africa “Expensive”
Comes in the form
Of unclean water
Drunk by children
Who are too thirsty
To boil the water they
Carry for their pregnant
Mothers 2 miles
From home…
They die just in time
For their sibling
To be born
And repeat the process.
In China “expensive”
Is a girl child in an
Overcrowded country.
In India “Expensive”
Is a widowed child of seven
Who goes to the place
Of the living discarded
Because she can bring no profit
To her family.
In the deserts of Iraq
“Expensive” comes from
Years of war where
Hatred between religions
Is more valuable
Than life,
While children
Dance in the street
To be old enough
To carry grenades
To die for beliefs
They are not yet
Old enough to understand.
“Expensive” in America
Is up to the insurance company
And if it's not up to them
Then “Expensive”
Is any procedure
Or drug
That you don't have
The money to pay for
No matter how simple
That you will die
From without it.
And so you see how complex
This “expensive” disease is
And our hopes to cure it
Seem insurmountable
And of course
The research to cure it
Is also “Too Expensive.”