Nancy Wexler's courage was extraordinary

given that she too might have the mutation

might

she might

she might have it.

It is crushing to look at these exuberant children

she wrote

full of hope and expectation

full

full of hope

full of hope and expectation

despite poverty

despite illiteracy

despite dangerous and exhausting work for the boys

fishing in small boats in the turbulent lake

or for even the tiny girls tending house

and caring for ill parents

despite a brutalising disease

robbing them of parents

robbing

robbing them

robbing them of parents

grandparents, aunts, uncles

and cousins

despite all this

they are joyous

and wild with life

joyous

joyous and wild

joyous and wild with life

 

until the disease attacks

until

until the disease

until the disease attacks

 

This is little more than a re-working of a paragraph on page 58 of GENOME by Matt Ridley, which haunted me after reading it, so copyright must be acknowledged.