In the last hour

Candles inside a patio entranceway at a church in Sevilla, Spain. The ancient stone floor is tilted, which is why the photograph appears off-balance.

For Sunday Scribblings the prompt is "in the last hour."

Live now
it's all we have for sure
everything else is a gamble
a risk, a toss of the dice
fortune is fickle

In the last hour
one journey ended
another began;
one struggle resolved
and a battle commenced

The complex illness
that's ravaged families
and entire communities
uneducated in ways
to combat this aggressor

In the last hour
350 people died of HIV and AIDS*
more than any other disease
time too short
to make any sense

As parents succumb,
13 million African children
orphaned and at risk
the smallest victims:
who will help them now?

In the last hour
researchers moved closer
to solving the riddle
that's long perplexed
the medical community

In the last hour
some AIDS sufferers
found a ray of hope
as new medicines
offered at reduced rates**

In the last hour
your community could mirror theirs
if safe sex isn't practiced
and children aren't taught
protective measures

The one thing Barbara Bush said
with which I agree
'In my day having unprotected sex could get you pregnant;
these days having unprotected sex
can get you dead'

* Source: Samaritin's Purse International Relief

**Former US president Bill Clinton has reached agreement with four pharmaceutical companies to manufacture low-cost antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of AIDS in developing countries. President Clinton said this week that low cost drugs will be made available to people in Africa and the Caribbean where the Clinton Foundation has already secured agreements with governments to establish integrated care, treatment and prevention programs.

Comments

[susan]

We've so much to be grateful for and your poem illustrates how we need to strike a delicate balance between a celebration of blessed life and an awareness for those in need...as well as a vital warning.

[annieelf]

Tara,my daughter was born in 1984, my son in '78. I remember being very fearful of the blood transfusion she may have needed and the blood bank was out of San Francisco. At that time, they were not testing for the AIDS virus. Thank God she did not, in the end, need the transfusion. I raised both my children as part of the first generation of women who were more worried about death than unwanted pregnancies and they were raised imbued with this knowledge.

[rach]

a great post about a subject that seems so far away from us in our life. Soon, I believe, it will become more important to us all.
Brilliant

[Tammy]

Beautifully written Tara! You are a wonderous talent that sheds light on human suffering. XXOO

[Scott]

A not so pleasant topic....that we all need to have wagged in front of us....and then twisted with a pinch of hope at the end. An excellent turn and post.

[swampgrrl]

i love this post madame parfait. the rhythm of your words combined with the AIDs content make for a very powerful read.

thank you for enlightening me on what one hour can do.

[Pearl]

Powerful tribute. And yet it can be like sitting under a desert sky at a campfire with the notion of pollution, some abstract thing of Mumbai when you throw your paint can into the fire and not make the connection. AIDs is a crisis here too.

[Kamsin]

A beautiful and timely poem.

[JanePoe (aka Deborah)]

Excellent poem, Tara. So important to shed light on, and give voice to, the atrocity of AIDS that is plaguing our global community. As ever, I'm so impressed with your writing and passion. Much peace & love, Deborah

[The Bold Soul]

I love how you combine poetry with your convictions. Well done!

[lamas]

a lovely reminder!!!!!!

[miss*R]

I also meant to say that the picture of all those candles is gorgeous - simple,just like I want my Christmas to be this year.

[Footpad]

From the peanut gallery, comes the sound of awed applause.

Thank you,

-- f

[Jone]

Thank you for the reminder of our humaness. We are all connected and my spirit hurts for these victims of this horrible disease.

[Amber]

Great post Tara. This issue breaks my heart, and hurts my spirit! I am so happy Clinton is trying to help. I just wonder why some billionaire won't just buy a pharmaceutical company, and just have it produce these needed drugs and give them away?! Some people have the money to do this. Can you imagine how it would feel to know you helped rid the word of aids? That you saved so many lives?What could be better to do with your money and your life? It is so frustrating that the drug exist to help, but because of money, they are kept from the people who need it. It is about the most immoral thing I can think of... :(

(P.S. thank you for catching my typo! LOL! I bet you thought, "well no wonder she did poorly"! hehe ;) )

Love to you lady,

:)

[Kerstin]

Your poem has reminded me of something that has moved to the back of my mind: the devestation that AIDS is bringing to our world. I remember the first days of the AIDS "outbreak", the fears, the prejudice and the rapidly increasing death toll. A good friend of mine died of AIDS ten years ago and since then I have hardly thought about this disease except for those moments when I had to take HIV-tests (e.g. for my US immigration), or when I read a novel by one of my favorite Swedish authors (Henning Mankell: Kennedy's Brain - highly recommended) who is a passionate advocate about Africa and the suffering caused by AIDS and corruption.

Thank you for a poem that reminds us of a stark reality that still exists outside of Iraq, the Muslim/Western conflict and the political polarity in the US. A whole continent is dying right in front of our eyes.

[miss*R]

thankyou Tara - it is so easy to sweep this under the carpet, so easy to put our heads in the sand.

[January]

Thanks for posting your poem for Sunday Scribblings. Such an important message

[Paris Parfait]

Yes, Marilyn that remark of BBush made me furious - I wrote a piece about it. Her quote in the poem is the only thing I've ever heard her say with which I agree.

[Delia]

Wow...this post quietly and powerfully affirms life. Vey important and insightful...

[rel]

Tara,
Thanks for the reaffirmation, that life is short, and we all are interconnected.

Bush smush..It's about people not politics.
As long as we keep it political the problem will grow not diminish.
rel

[Pam Aries]

Ha ha !..Twitches, that was a pretty hilarious cooment! Very apropo! Tara, thank you for such a profound poem! It really got to me this morning....

[ren.kat]

On Wednesday I was talking to a colleague- he was showing me some books- translations of African writers who wrote in their native languages. "He died last year." "He died five years ago." "He died in 96." I quit asking what they died of. My colleague has lost five family members in past two years to AIDS. Despite medication. Thanks for waving the flag again.

[AscenderRisesAbove]

I liked how you pulled together the red candles, the AIDS theme and the last hour for sunday scribblings; life is like that - interconnecting.

missing clinton... missing a real president...

What does the sign say over the candles? Saint something-house?

[Sunshine Scribe]

Love your poem and your effort to raise awareness about this. So glad I stopped by your amazing blog!

[Marilyn]

Thank you for keeping this issue in people's mind. It's such a vital one. As for B. Bush...GAH. That woman. I still can't get over her visiting the Astrodome and saying that sleeping on a cot in the Astrodome was a step UP for those displaced by Katrina and how well it (losing their homes) was working out for them. Sorry, she pushes my buttons. :) But I loved your poem!

[twitches]

Well, I'd agree with what Babsy Bush said too, but can I just say that I wish she'd used protection and perhaps had one less kid? You know which one I'm talking about...