New York Poet Michael H. Broder is curating a daily poetry project called HIV Here + Now, which is a countdown memorializing what’s been lost, what’s been gained, and what’s changed as we approach the 35th year of a word with HIV and AIDS. For some of us, it means the memory of friends lost and protests in the streets. For others, it means, as Michael eloquently describes, “being on lifesaving meds, getting your life back, wondering what your life meant, what your past meant, your present, how to process having lived through that and living in this life now, where the crisis is ‘over’ in most of the public mind, but you still take your meds every day… .” Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials have all experienced the HIV struggle in different ways, and this project is an account of that: the fear and anxiety of the disease’s most harrowing days; the hopefulness of sustainable treatment; the question marks of what’s to come. Michael published this poem of mine for the project today, but I urge you to check out the work of the other poets at the website and to read his “About” page to learn more.
Kelly McQuain
make beautiful things to make things beautiful ~ art, writing & random musings
Kelly McQuain 