In whispers soft, the risks appear,
A thread of genes that we must hear.
Family ties, through blood they pass,
A mother, sister—shadows cast.
Mutations deep in code we hold,
BRCA’s tale of risks untold.
A history shaped by battles past,
One breast survives, but fears may last.
Hormones dance in early bloom,
Menstruation’s clock sets risk too soon.
Menopause late, with years of grace,
Yet estrogen lingers, leaves its trace.
Pregnancies delayed or none at all,
A womb that waits, or doesn’t call.
Therapies given, hormones in pill,
Can tilt the scale, for good or ill.
Lifestyle writes its chapter clear—
In each glass of wine, in every tear.
Weight we carry, a burden grown,
In exercise, prevention’s shown.
Smoking embers rise and burn,
A risk that lingers, a slow return.
The world around, with dangers near,
Radiation’s silent fear.
Chemicals, plastics, BPA’s strife,
Interfering with the breath of life.
Breasts of density, tissue thick,
In mammograms, it’s hard to pick.
Cells that twist in ways unseen,
Atypical, in fields between.
Age steps forward, slow and sure,
With passing time, risks mature.
Women more, but men still share,
The shadow cast, the whispered scare.
Ethnic threads in woven strands,
White and Black in different lands.
Aggressive forms may find their way,
In some, the night, in others, day.
Yet hope endures in every breath,
For many risks don’t lead to death.
With screenings clear and steps we take,
We change the course, the future make.
