A New Poem!!!

This is a new poem I wrote (and rewrote) over the past couple of weeks. I do hope you will all enjoy this:

BUM

My dog and I
saw him lying there
in what could only
have been the bodily remains
of one more wasted afternoon;
in the early evening light
we almost thought
he could be a misplaced coat
left in the park.

I could see his cane,
let go from his shaking hand
and resting on the concrete
like some twisted act of healing;
as if the hand of God,
and not a cheap wine
told him he was free.

In that mixed bag of thought
which never starts
with the best foot,
this could have been me
had I had turned left,
or leaned back
into the self-made void
of pity, wallow, and too much sleep,
or had fallen deep
and let the cracks caress me
like an old wool blanket
left out in the cold.

This could have been me
simply forgotten,
letting the time, smell and soot
of the world wash over
like the first chilling breeze
of an early spring night.

Another old poem. . .

This is an old piece I wrote during my first few years of my HIV diagnosis:




A Piece of the Plague


During these bad days,
I wish I could show you
my piece of the plague;
maybe you would understand
my nervous steps as I march
on this crumbling road
of hovering death and blood.

When the fevers come
in the thick of the evening,
I wish I could just touch you
and scream out this gnawing fear
that is slapping me awake;
maybe you might understand.

As I sit in my usual place
in the waiting room
I watch others walk their own roads
and hear stories of decay,
I wish I could share my pain;
some days I don't have the words.