The Susan G. Komen race for the cure
By Brandon Astor Jones
I have before me the first page of the D-section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It carries a photograph of Atlanta's Piedmont Avenue. From curb to curb it is covered with running and walking women — an estimated 10,000 gathered (of every age group) to participate in the one-mile run. The caption reads, "Foot soldiers in cancer fight".
As I read I thought of all of those magnificent women who have entered my life, and as a consequence have spiritually entered this death row prison cell, whose lives have been taken by this dreaded disease. The poem that follows is a loving tribute their memory. They are greatly missed.
Not forgotten
Through research one day soon a cure will come
As a sea of cancer steals the beautiful and wholesome:
Seven Hills' dear Stephanie "Jill" Wilkinson
Not forgotten
Cancer's storms terrorise our past and present friends
Taking many a loved one down to their early end:
Oak Park's compassionate and energetic Mary Alice Rankin
Not forgotten
The disease zeros in on these people we deem finer
Who gave children hope, even a curriculum designer:
Santa Cruz's extremely gifted Rosemarie Greiner
Not forgotten
Like a frigid iceberg that suddenly appears in mist
tearing a terminal hole in life's vessel, causing its list:
Floreat Park's — creative Celtic — Cathy Smith ...
Not forgotten
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-63, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]