TELL THEM!

TELL THEM

how exciting it was

to be able to pick up any girl from any club.

TELL THEM

how great you felt

to get any woman you worked with.

TELL THEM

how your peers cheered you on.

TELL THEM

how there were catfights over you.

TELL THEM!

NOW TELL THEM

how your wife lived

by your hospital bed.

TELL THEM

how your children bathed you 

and carried you

from the toilet and back.

TELL THEM

how your sons are uncertain

of who to look up to.

TELL THEM

how your daughters

can’t differentiate between a good man

and ‘your kind’ of a man.

TELL THEM

how your parents

still don’t understand what’s happening.

TELL THEM

that your girlfriend and wife

are both with child.

TELL THEM

how you thought

you didn’t need “no medication”.

TELL THEM

how hard you laughed

when they said

“Get Tested!”

TELL THEM

that those who have always loved you

still do

(but are just a little hurt and confused by you).

TELL THEM

that those who were ‘rolling’ with you

are now buried by you.......

I realize I may sound rather judgmental and I sincerely apologize. It is my opinion that there is so much unspoken pain  with respect to the losses we have all suffered as a result of our loved ones contracting and dying from HIV/AIDS. It was really bad when there was no treatment available to all and we had to watch them die. Now, it feels like we are in a different time zone--> treatment is accessible, getting tested is not such a tedious process anymore and the stigma surrounding the disease has really gone down. That said, there are still people who are choosing not to protect themselves at all. People who are stepping out of their marital homes and are involved in multiple sexual relationships at one time. I wish these were people I didn't know: people I didn't recognize but I do. All I want is for those who know better, to do better and not succumb to the forces of habit.  It breaks my heart (BMH) each time I see an orphaned child who is on treatment (thank God they are on treatment but this should never have happened). There should be no more children born with HIV/AIDS and it may just start with a change in behavior. 

Life is already too short, try not to make it shorter for yourself and those around you. Be responsible for yours and their sake.  

Akuruma nzeve ndewako. Ndapota Ngatidzoraneyi.