The following poem was written as part of a poetry-writing event at Spurgeons Academy, to mark World Poetry Day
I thought I was a laugh conqueror
Immune to all manner of attacks
Alas! This was but wishful thinking
Of a person with a deficiency syndrome
Who was worried and unsure at the same time
I did not know that I would waste away
I only imagined I was immune and healthy
Yet I had led a life of luxury
A life of very risky behaviour
A careless life of premarital sex
Abstinence was a very strange idea
All that glitters is not gold
Some close friends have the killer virus
In their semen, serum and body fluids
Only I’m not sure about their sputum and saliva
Recently a doctor gave me a shock
With the message that I lacked immunity
Foreign bodies had entered my body
Through irresponsible sexual behaviour
The foreign bodies have weakened my body
A look at my body tells it all
Without doubt the doctor has revealed
That I have contaminated blood
I’m infected with HIV/AIDS
This has given me a great shock
Probably my body deceives me
Have I not always been a conqueror?