you can get
an HIV test now
with results
20 minutes later
but that’s
plenty of time
for that man
with dark green eyes
to remember
who he has been with
how many times
with & without risk
since his last negative
if guilt & fear
are viruses
he’s infected
& terrified
of the results
he leaves
with 5 minutes left
on the timer
Susan Daniels Poetry 
you are really getting creative with
these. Interesting thoughtful angle on this one.
heard this story on the way home and said–aha!
I can’t even imagine the spiral
reach of such a learning.
oh, I know…and to be concerned
enough to take the test, and then be too frightened to stay those last 5 minutes for the result (which was negative)…
Like the clever narrative here – so much in so few words. A real sting in the tale.
Thanks, Holly. yes, I borrowed a page from your book today–and ohhhh–love the pun!
Nice micro- version of the theme here 🙂
Thanks, Mike–made this one a bit more of personal crisis, instead of a global one–but it is as far-reaching, I think.
Interesting
a little twist…
I am assuming ‘left’ would be a departure from the hospital or an exit from the world itself. Either way, cowardice isn’t acceptable in several cultures (not in mine at least). He might have been shocked to find out that his worst fears would not be confirmed… Oh well, in Japan he will be a good candidate for Sepuku…
I cannot imagine a mindset where
one would take a test and be unwilling to face the result. I was dumbfounded to hear this story (a true one). You are right–cowardice is the word for what this man did. Either that or a complete lack of responsibility for his safety or the safety of others. Hah. In my country (well, my state anyway), women have to take an HIV test when they are admitted to the hospital, in labor, unless they have had one in their physician’s office beforehand. No escape for laboring women, to protect and treat new babies, is admirable, and I applaud it. To refuse to take responsibility for one’s own disease status, control spread, and perhaps (if one is not so selfish) protect the health of a partner, is reprehensible. Okay, off soapbox now.
Of all of the apocalypse poems you have posted I find this one speaks to me the most about mortality.
Yes–me too, because it is direct and insidious.
Courage is all it takes, but it is not as simple.