by Tyrone Nagai
Add 12 months of paid leave for new mothers,
so both baby and mommy stay healthy.
Insurance that actually covers
this need exists in all modern countries.
Of course that’s assuming we fix health care,
granting insurance to all, forever.
It’s no burden for taxpayers to bare;
we all benefit from this endeavor.
Just think of young Diamante Driver.
The 12-year-old died from an abscessed tooth.
Eighty bucks to make him a survivor,
the price to extract and clean his nerve root.
Our health care system needs a redesign.
That’s what I’m talking about for ’09.
Tyrone Nagai is pursuing his MFA at San Diego State University. He is also associate editor of Fiction International.
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