She had been diagnosed <br />and sent away, <br />the colony they said <br />would be a home, <br />all those who caught <br />and did not have the genes <br />to fight the bugs, <br />they'd be recorded <br />in the ledger of the State, <br />as Hansenites. <br /> <br />Forever gone, <br />outcast, <br />with sores <br />and swollen joints, <br />and dying nerves <br />that made you drop <br />the cigarettes <br />and pens with which <br />to write your tale, <br />recording all events <br />and those you felt <br />would come <br />to claim your soul <br />and take you off <br />into the bowels of <br />the place we know <br />as Hell.<br /><br />Herbert Nehrlich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/leprosy-2/
