Artist's Prostatement

There are many kinds of cancer from the head down to the toes.
They can cause disfigured organs or just pink spots on your nose.
But my favorite one, for reasons even I don’t understand,
Is the cancer that begins inside the humble prostate gland.

You can talk of brains and bones and breasts and lungs and nodes lymphatic,
And of course these cancers all have quite a flair for the dramatic,
But even the affliction of the skin that’s over-tanned
Just pales when it’s compared to cancer of the prostate gland.

Most normal prostates function well and people do not mind them.
And even an enlarged one, men will try to put behind them,
Especially when the doctor checks with latex-covered hand
For signs of abnormality within the prostate gland.

And if, alas, you have some symptom needing further study,
Such as difficulty peeing or ejaculate that’s bloody,
A prostate biopsy will almost certainly be planned
To see what’s going on inside that humble prostate gland.

You can whack this thing with several thousand rads of radiation
(And hope the treatment, of itself, does not cause some mutation)
You can have the whole thing excised with a cool robotic hand
But you still might have to deal with cancer of the prostate gland.

And if, when treatment’s over, luckily you’re cancer-free,
And your side effects no worse than having constantly to pee,
If all your other functions come back, that is simply grand,
You still should show respect for cancer of the prostate gland.

So stand up hand in hand across the land now and demand
Research be planned to understand the cancerous prostate gland.