A poem a day for 2013 - day 171 - Status

My sisters are alive
They are infected with HIV
Not death
These are living women
These are inspiring women
Daring to every day
Again
Again
Until the last tomorrow
How you livin'

These are educating women
Bold enough to take staples out
Your mind
Your ignorance

These are afraid and fearless women
Broken and knocking down doors
Anyway
HIV / AIDS will not hold these women
Down
Back
Stigmatized
Separated
Buried
Silenced

These women
These sisters
Daughters
Lovers
Wives
Friends
Mothers
Teachers
Preachers
Have voices
Have lungs
Have courage so Everest
They will not be contained
Will not be forced
Held
Boxed
Inside your sickness
Your sickness
Not theirs
Your disease
Your mind peeling and sticky with misinformation
Hate
Lies
Yourself

These women have been tested
And tried
These women are living
To tell