She didn't know anyone with cancer,
She was lucky in that way.
She knew people with diabetes,
TB and  heart failures

She knows people who live
Ten days, sometimes less
Streets where death is
a matter of daily life

She knows people poisoned
by lead, by hunger, by greed
She knows many people
who will not live until the age of 20.

"Who knows someone with cancer?"
asks the motivational speaker
Her hand is the only one down
She's lucky, in that way.