Jolts from the not too Distant Past
no way to bail out,
no parachute
beside my bed…
I wrapped myself around the AIDs epidemic
in the 80’s. The fear grew well into the
90’s, when I saw a man on a starvation drip. (no more Lazarus for him)
He had had enough of needles and ventilators and AZT and gauze and scars and
tubing. Suddenly my fear was gone, and there was a raw sense of militancy. I
was determined to give him a dignified burial. What else could I do for a
person who had starved himself to death rather than go on fighting a lost
battle. One really needs to be brave and distinguished to accomplish such a deed
with honor. I knew that, the nurses knew that.
His family knew nothing but the looming gossip around them.
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