…You Tell
“Not at this time!”
You just told me.
I’d thought you’d
Exercise some patience,
Look around you
Then tell me, that is,
If it is still necessary
To say: “not at this time!”
But, you just told me,
Even when the world around
You cautions: “Shhh!
Don’t say so!”
Part 2:
…You Don’t
In case you don’t know,
Know that ours is a dangerous
World with HIV/AIDS marauding
Our lot like grasshoppers
At harvest-time;
We live at the mercies of HIV!
We dance to the drumbeats of AIDS!
We watch with tearful eyes
As loved and innocent ones
Are sung to their shallow graves…
Part 3:
…You Say
Do you still say
“Not at this time”?
I ask: when would it be “time”
if not now? Why turn your
Face away while HIV/AIDS
Ravages and pillages?
My plea: it’s at this time
It’s now… don’t turn
Away… let your milk of
Kindness and love flow
To strengthen the struggling
To season the hapless
to succor the dying…
Yes, at this time,
Let your heart and hands
Open to protect the innocent
And prevent
The ravages of HIV/AIDS,
“At this time!”
Part 4:
…You Do
In case you do know,
Yet pretend not to know
That at this time,
The immediacy of the
Moment trumpets for action…
Because you’re either selfish
Or outright drowned in denial,
Believing only in yourself
And not realizing
A foe for one
Is a foe for all;
Not understanding
A finger in oil
Baths all other fingers…
Good thing is you do know
That the wrong is pretending
Not to know as you now do;
The right is:
Snap out
Step down
Step up
Knowing
Your action NOW
Can save a life
And build a chain
That makes a fence
To protect and prevent
Against the onslaughts
Of HIV/AIDS!
« return.