Challenging Poetry

Finland: T1

one, two, three . . .
this morning
I counted people
on the way to church.
old, young, children—
so many children.
and I thought of Finland.
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen . . .

imagine, if one in ten
had blood turn to honey—
tearing through veins
with sharp crystal edges,
leaving blind eyes and
dead toes in its wake.
thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two . . .

imagine, if one in ten
must test their blood for sugar
before they eat,
before they sleep,
before they exercise,
before they drive,
before they make love
or play with their children.
fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five . . .

imagine, if no one knew
when the disease would strike—
six weeks,
six months,
six years,
six decades.
an autoimmune disease has no respect
for youth or age,
no necessity for family history,
no warning signs—
one day healthy, the next dying.
eighty-eight, eighty-nine, ninety . . .

imagine, no cure.
in Finland,
a one in ten chance
for finger sticks
and syringes
for the rest of a life.
five hundred fifty thousand
out of five point five million.

Author's Note ▼

I wrote this because according to my research, Finland has the highest rate of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in the world. In fact, according to Finland's diabetes association (https://www.diabetes.fi/en/finnish_diabetes_association/diabetes_in_finland) one in ten people in Finland have diabetes. I believe that means type 1 and type 2.
That means, for every kindergarten class of thirty children, three will be diagnosed with diabetes in their lifetimes. As a person with diabetes (I was diagnosed with T1 at age 31, nine years ago) I feel for them--us.