Sit,
Sit and listen,
And let me tell you a story,
One you might have heard before.
When you look at me…
Do I look pleasing?
Do I look fulfilled?
I am graceful and happy, no?
But let me tell you,
Of the painful burden I carry every day…
One that I will carry for till the end of my days.
I was once young and carefree,
But now, I speak as if I’m a bag of bones
This burden… this disease has aged me,
It has carved lines into my face
I’m sure if I look closely… I can’t miss a few grey hairs,
But I digress…
I was once so young and naive
And then I met them
The cool kids
And for some unfathomable reason,
They chose me to be friends with
Their style wasn’t my cup of tea
But I conformed so that I could fit in
Dont worry… We’ll take care of you they said,
And fool that I was… I trusted them
And into the spiders web I walked willingly…
A hazy fog of parties, drugs and sex,
Waking up in random beds without a clue of how I got there
Swirling patchwork memories that I cannot make heads or tails of
It was a fun time…
Then reality came crashing in
A normal medical check up
The doctor looking at me with something akin to pity
You are positive, he said.
I blinked unable to understand what he was saying.
Thus began a whirlwind of tests that confirmed what that old man said in his small dark office,
I was in shock…
I asked around…
Lo and behold…
The people I called friends were the board of directors directing my doom
They were on a ‘holy’ mission…
Sanctioned by heaven or hell… I will never know,
Their mission… To infect as many as possible before their time is up,
I was never a friend to them
All I was… Was a name on a list
One that was gleefully crossed out
A hit list it was…
To spread the poison to as many people as can be
I will never know why I was on that list.
But I have to face the consequences of my actions.
Every day,
My life depends on one small white pill
Swallowed in the morning
If I stop…
This tiny tiny critters living inside me Will have a field day
I will waste away… Sickening day by day
Coughing up blood
My lungs collapsing
My skin breaking out in wounds
My mind… Gone
I will be left but skin housing a frame of bones
I know my fate.
But each day… I struggle forward
I make sure to take my white pill
I make sure to eat well
I try to live as healthy as I can
No more drugs and endless parties.
If AIDS wants to take me from this life…
Well… I won’t go down easy.
So that is my story
I live a full life
I am happy
And the only difference between you and me…
Is a small white pill.
Gihihi ?
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