Na(HIV)PoWriMo ± April 9, 2019

Terrence Sykes
Resurrection

To the appointed & assigned place
at the assigned & appointed time

Could even Jesus raise the dread
from & of this day

Sitting in the car
unable to even open the door
to see through blinding tears

Resurrecting memories
I see him fall
then rise

Walking along a beach
hand in hand
hiking in the mountains
mile after mile
exploring foreign streets
passport upon passport

Passages fold & unfold
& refold
tearing the fabric of time

Oh Lazarus—you were the first
please show him the way
he always followed
when we danced!

Oh Sebastian—bound
pierced in the forest
where are the tender angels
that tended your wounds!

Even fragrant herbs & flowers
not enough to awake his senses
freshly cut from our garden
lay on his casket—descending
as they lay him down

I arise—but he does not
The time for miracles
I turn—this too has passed

Terrence Sykes is a GASP (Gay Alcoholic Southern Poet) and was born and raised in the rural coal mining area of Virginia. This isolation brings the theme of remembrance to his creations, whether real or imagined. Though not traditional in his spiritual path, these traditional threads of his past are woven into his tapestry of writing. His poetry, photography, and flash fiction have been published in Bangladesh, Canada, India, Ireland Mauritius,Scotland, Spain and the United States.

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Here is today’s prompt

(optional as always)

Today’s poem uses the figure of speech known as apostrophe, sometimes introduced by the interjection, “Oh” (see “Oh Lazarus” and “Oh Sebastian” in today’s poem). An apostrophe is a direct address to someone who is not present or is dead, or to an inanimate object.

Write a poem on any HIV/AIDS-related topic in which you at least one apostrophe (up to as many as you want).