NO AID FOR YOU

Written after a visit to a Buddhist AIDS Hospital
I wrote it as a means of expressing my jumbled thoughts, it probably has no literary value but it was a relief to express something. All the adults we saw were drug addicts or sex workers.

You were desirable and desired
You flaunted yourself
Showing your best side
Your life seemed exciting
Alive, drinking in a crowd

You painted yourself
Clothed your body
In an unclothed state
Your lips said, “Come”
Your mind screamed “No”
For a price
They could have all they wanted
Your pockets were deep

(“How did you enjoy the night life in Bangkok?”
Our young Pastor was asked
He was shocked! I was shocked!)

For some
At your ultimate expense
Fleeting pleasure

Until…….

Now……

I see your naked body
Dead
Preserved
At its worst
The moment of death

Awful death
Suffering, suffering
Agony with no energy to call
Misery, no further hope, alone.
A belief system
Which offers no hope
And Christians must be silent here
Or stay away

Given a choice I prefer the latter

Your photo makes you look alive
Almost healthy
Did a needle do it?
Or lust?
Which ever
In misery you die.

What of the small ones
Corpses all
Wispy hair
Teeth protruding
Whole body so frail
Even smaller than your age
Suffering complete
Childhood bypassed
Captured by death

This cant be a needle
Nor lust
Not yours anyway!

The one who conceived you
Carried
Cared
Caressed you

Did she die first?
In deep regret
If only, if only, if only
Oh that I could change it all
But we must die
Without hope
Alone
And there is no aid
Though AIDS we all have