It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light!
Edna St. Vincent Millay
of body, heart, and soul? I loved you from
the moment we first met - I joined with you
and you with me for better or for worse...
from that day forward, you my perfect mate...
your friends and family became my kin.
Those early times were party without end;
we sang and danced and loved - the band would not
stop playing...Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees nights,
Chicago, Otis, Sammy Cook all day,
Credence, Abba in our veins...our raging
rocking Odyssey of sex and drugs.
That ten-year honeymoon we loved in bliss;
we touched and tasted one another, balled
in bedrooms, kitchens, baths...alone and with
our friends...became each other. You were life
for me, and I your flesh and bone and blood,
shooting up and living large and loving...We...
You never even knew of me, how much
of you I had become; but life was so
intense, it simply didn't matter: we
had love...and friends...and music played...when you
grew weak, lost weight, and died, you had no clue
that it was I who took your final breath.
Though you were gone, I had the kids, and they
had me. Then, finally my name emerged.
Lovers fought each other, friends denied
their love, denied they even knew. At night
they still sought out my love and passed it on.
For forty years we loved, immersed ourselves
in passions spent and gained. We loved and fought,
embraced, denied. Today the music plays
a mellower refrain - Lionel and Barry soothe
the heart while merchants, politicians squawk
their proclamations. And the dance goes on...
As long as we have sex and music, we'll
love on, dance on. Those marriages that last
the longest seem to weather stressful times
and come out stronger. I wish, however, you'd
listen to the song and dance with me.
My name is AIDS, and this marriage is for life.