Dennis Rhodes
The Dead
Mark had done his best painting ever:
two gay teen lovers at Bethesda Fountain.
Bob had completed a novel, shopped it around.
I thought it was great but it’s in limbo now.
Danny’s legs were plagued with neuropathy.
The Joffrey will dance on without him.
It is a noble thing to die for one’s art—
to leave a life courageously unfinished…
David’s voice could move you to tears.
His pianist has taken home three Oscars.
Tony’s graffiti art fades with each new rain,
no one is around to touch it up.
Patrick crafted scarves so exquisite
50 were worn at his Celebration of Life.
Sondheim said it best: art isn’t easy.
It’s even harder for those left behind.
Dennis Rhodes is the author of Spiritus Pizza & Other Poems (Vital Links, 2000) and Entering Dennis (Xlibris, 2005). His poems and essays have appeared in BLOOM, Chelsea Station, Lambda Literary Review, The Cape Cod Times, New York Newsday, Fine Gardening, Avocet, Backstreet, Ibbetson Street, bear creek haiku, Aurorean, and Alembic, among others. Rhodes served as literary editor of Body Positive magazine (an important source of information for people living with HIV and AIDS in the 1980s and 90s) and later as poetry editor of Provincetown Magazine. He co-founded the Provincetown Poetry Festival and ran it from 1999–2001. For a number of years, Rhodes hosted a radio program on WOMR in Provincetown, featuring interviews and poetry readings with a different Provincetown or Cape Cod poet every week.
SUBMIT to Na(HIV)PoWriMo via our SUBMITTABLE site.
If you want to support the mission and work of HIV Here & Now, consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Indolent Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity.
Join our mailing list to receive news, updates, and special offers from Indolent Books, the publisher of HIV Here & Now.
Here is today’s prompt
(optional as always)
Today’s poem remembers artists, writers, performers, and other creative people who died of AIDS. This poem, paradoxically, makes us think of the many creative and inspiring people living with HIV today. Write a poem about one or more of them. For ideas and inspiration, consult these articles about Amazing HIV-Positive People in Plus magazine.