Stephen Mead
Cradling Rage
To do it hold
a child dying of AIDS, hear
on the news about the death
of a porn star due to the same
disease, then have a co-worker say:
“Just desserts.”
Jesus Christ, I wasn’t born with this fury.
Like a second skin it grew,
a kind of daily respired fire walked
within.
Of all the stinging slaps against tolerance,
of every shove a spirit confronts,
I could comment on over ten thousand times
& yet not convert any listener who isn’t
wise to the truth.
Here is the crux:
People believe as they want.
Here is a soul composed of matter
saying death doesn’t discriminate, a
slogan billboard-fit, rising in the
face of real hatred & hugging it with
a rage which still attempts
understanding.
In addition to this there is, of
course, unreasonable human pettiness &
fear.
(For Casey Donovan, et. al.)
A resident of NY, Stephen Mead is an artist, writer, maker of short-collage films and sound-collage downloads. His latest P.O.D. Amazon release is an art-text hybrid, According to the Order of Nature (We too are Cosmos Made), a work which takes to task the words which have been used against LGBT folks from time immemorial. Learn more about his work at Poetry on the Line.
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Here is today’s prompt
(optional as always)
Today’s poem uses rage as a starting point for talking about HIV/AIDS. Write a poem about HIV/AIDS using rage or any other emotion as your starting point. (Believe it or not, some people feel gratitude in the face of their HIV infection, because it forced them to reevaluate their choices and behaviors and make positive changes for their own health and well-being.)