Mel Waldman
Metamorphosis
ACT I
BLACK METAMORPHOSIS
TERROR & THANATOS
Harlem
requiem 125th ’tween Lex & Park the Lee Building Beth Israel MMTP
Harlem
trauma primordial fear in daylight the sprawling sun & after dark
1981
the seething sin of mystery the bestial year of the broken cocoon & black metamorphosis
&
soon a freaky unknown virus at the Lee slithers ferociously through the fire of invisibility
addicts
under siege blacks Hispanics & gays too in the crosshairs of culture
condemning
me & you—me: the pariah-healer; you: the victims-lepers
vanishing
at the Last Supper
ACT II
LUMINOUS METAMORPHOSIS
SURVIVAL
Days
of struggle & salvation & years of despair & rebirth rush slowly
&
carry us to another place blessed with the kaleidoscopic passage of hope
a
cornucopia of opalescence & waves of iridescence glorious gems of light
otherworldly
visions that empower & caress & bestow the gift to cope
luminous
metamorphosis
as
we find life-sustaining experimental meds & fewer death beds
but
still too many deaths
ACT III
TRANSCENDENT METAMORPHOSIS
LIVING & THRIVING
Now
we are
free
& beautiful
like
the multicolored butterflies of the sacred earth
sailing
across the turquoise seas & skies
free
in rebirth
&
bathed in transcendent metamorphosis
free
& released from the prison of words
for
this is
our
truth
re-naming
who we are
I—
the beautiful potent healer
You—
empowered transformed & evolving humans of beauty & divinity
Editor’s Note: Today’s poem captures the major phases in the AIDS epidemic in major urban areas in the United States from the 1980s to the present. It is important to remember, however, that many people, both in the US and around the world, have been left out of the “TRANSCENDENT METAMORPHOSIS—LIVING & THRIVING” phase of the epidemic because of disparities in access to healthcare. Such disparities are all too often driven by racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and income inequality, as well as by the shame and stigma still widely associated with HIV. (Note that MMTP in today’s poem stands for methadone maintenance treatment program.)
Mel Waldman writes poems, stories, plays, essays, and memoir. memoir, essays, short stories, poetry, and plays. His poems have appeared in Indiana Voice Journal, Mad Swirl, Two Drops of Ink, Brickplight, and other journals. Holding a doctorate in psychology, Waldman is a practicing psychologist and a candidate in psychoanalysis at the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies in New York City.
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)
Write a poem that uses an art form as a metaphor for HIV. For example, today’s poem uses the three-act structure of a stage performance—perhaps a play, opera, or ballet. You might also try addressing HIV in terms of music or the visual arts. You need not limit yourself to structural elements like the acts of a play or the movements of a symphony. You might invoke concepts such as musical timbre or the brush strokes of a painting. The possibilities are nearly endless!