Circa 1989
Things I Remember from the Summer that You Died
According to the World Health Organization, since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the 1980’s, 85.6 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 40.4 million people have died of HIV. I write this poem for a cherished friend who left us all way too soon. He came into my life during my formative years and shaped my heart and character. All children should have caring adults who mirror love and kindness back to them - that’s what he did for me. I will always be thankful for the short time that I was able to experience his light.
things I remember from the summer that you died:
bare chested boys flipping on mattresses across the street in the empty lot
the smell of rain on hot pavement.
jordans
high top fades
freeza cups from the candy lady’s house. they melted too soon because they weren’t frozen hard enough.
george h.w. bush was president
and it was the last summer that I jumped double dutch with my friends
we entered high school in the fall.
on a tuesday, i stood in my mother’s kitchen
hunched over the sink crying into bleach scented bubbles.
my hands shook as the butter knives fell to the floor and gospel music played on the radio.
i tried to make sense of your passing.
no one told me that you were sick until you were already gone.
i didn’t attend your funeral and never got to say goodbye.
our local funeral home refused to handle your body.
back then they still called it AIDS.
there was so much fear and so much ignorance.
even in death, you still faced hate.
everything mattered but the truth of who you were.
they did not know you as I knew you.
vacation bible school teacher, big brother, and trusted mentor.
oh, how I loved you.
you taught me that I was beautiful and made in the image of God.
i think of you often
always teaching and guiding.
friend, i miss you so deeply.
i hope you can see that i grew up to become exactly who you predicted i would be.
thank you for seeing me back then,
thank you.
i still speak your name and probably always will.
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