Poem 31 ± World AIDS Day 2016

Jason S. Price can i love said he can i love said he (of course said he always said he) forever said he (can i love said he how long said he always said he) okay then said he (come on said he i’m coming said he it’s wide said he oh no said he) … [Read more…]

Poem 30 ± November 30, 2016

EDITOR’S NOTE: This poem is posted in preformatted mode to preserve the lineation and spacing. You may need to use the horizontal scroll to read the ends of lines. It’s worth it. Michael J. Wilson + You have AIDS have AIDS What if you could be purified in fire set from the feather of a … [Read more…]

Poem 29 ± November 29, 2016

Logan February No Homo We do not exist until they are bored. You can sit in the shadows, maybe eat an apple, maybe read a book, maybe not – you are in the shadows, after all. But when they need entertainment, your throne is carved from the same wood as the cutting board. You bare … [Read more…]

Poem 28 ± November 28, 2016

Julene Tripp Weaver Green Witch with AIDS I walk with my toes afire I am not safe within my walls I shoulder many dark secrets I am not a cavity I am as deep as the ocean I am not female song I am an ethereal being I am not just partner to a man … [Read more…]

Poem 27 ± November 27, 2016

Stephen J. Williams Fentham What can the dancer say, moving with his arms that way, And with those legs and hips, that we, In our dumb bodies, say with tongue and lips? He says that in the movement of my being, this breath, this life, “I am.” —And no one, even he who soon might … [Read more…]

Poem 26 ± November 26, 2016

Aidan Forster Wood/Water Body One night I slipped from the house. I could not see my own body but I felt like more than a body. I was reflective. I called every creature to me and bade them drink my waters. I scattered with the creatures and took shelter in a man’s truck. The man … [Read more…]

Poem 25 ± November 25, 2016

D. Gilson Movie Going The week I move to Washington, my mother emails me an article: “Nation’s Capital Now Capital of HIV Infection.” Be careful, she says, I love you, and Kevin says he can’t live with rejection so he sleeps around. Chases bugs and snorts lines of coke and texts: I let Matt fuck … [Read more…]

Poem 24 ± November 24, 2016

Stacy Nigliazzo Aubade Take these sunken eyes and learn to see. —Paul McCartney One of my first patients was a man with advanced AIDS. He was admitted with altered mental status and a fever. As I leaned over to check his colostomy site, he smiled and touched my breast, saying he loved me. His partner … [Read more…]

Poem 23 ± November 23, 2016

Raymond Luczak Visiting St. Vincent’s Hospital (1990) I will continue to pretend. My heart still brakes for you in the elevator as I stare out, nonchalantly apart. I must continue to pretend. My heart droops like grapes. What would a cultivator do with those alarming lines on your chart? Your pulse has weakened, a timid … [Read more…]

Poem 22 ± November 22, 2016

Stephen Mills Last Night Out Let’s say you like to wear t-shirts with the word “sissy” printed in hot pink letters across the chest. Say you kiss other boys on the dance floor while hoards of sweaty men grind against each other as if this is their last chance for human contact—the end of the … [Read more…]