Will you post an entry in my HIV education information sonnet contest?

Would you dare to stand up strong,

to make yourself be heard out loud?

To refrain from merely going along?

To stand alone among the crowd?

Would you dare to be faithful, true?

To the one that you were promised to?

To keep your eyes from going astray?

To walk the high and narrow way?

Life is tough but beautiful too.

From a healthy point of view.

So, see a doctor, tell a friend,

and know troubles always end.

It's up to us to find a cure,

And until then we shall endure.

Edit: If you think these are good enough, you may use them as well...

This one is for the newborn babies...inspired by our Firecat's compassion...

Why was I despatched to earth,

without a chance to laugh or cry,

Why on earth did she give birth?

Was I only born to quickly die?

What eats my little newborn soul?

What feeds upon my baby blood?

Why wasn't I created whole?

Who dares crush a new rosebud?

But there is a reason to His will,

that we will one day understand;

And He will always keep us still,

in the palm of His own hand.

And so, have faith, be still and know,

that the pain will one day hurt no more.

And here's another one....thanks for helping people!

It takes just one little mistake,

to have a new life destroyed;

A mistake that we all can make,

but must learn to now avoid.

If you don't care to use protection,

If you dare say you didn't know;

Then you should have no objection,

to learn to just say "NO"

For the stakes are really high here,

It's a question of your life;

Be strong, be brave without fear,

Be safe from careless strife.

And so, don't you think its way too late,

for you are the master of your fate.

Happy Hiram

Thanks for all the correct information.

This statement is really profound: "HIV is preventable by using condoms,"

How many of us feel safe enough to suit up a well made condom

and have anal sex with an HIV infected man...or

Don a glowing worm like condom and make wondrous love to a woman

I just met, and shared she has HIV....awe...thanks for sharing, now I can

trust you and my loyal bag of condoms.

What about giving some sound advice to human beings that are supposed

to think different than animals. I.E. No sex with homosexual or straight,

otherwise known as abstaining, greatly reduces the chances of obtaining

HIV

Perhaps not as drastic a measure and successful as your statement again:

"HIV is preventable by using condoms,"

but it could certainly be considered, eh?

As far as a sonnet, you know my poetry falls short sir, but thanks anyway.

Keep up the good work in spreading the message.

At the county clinics and rehabilitation dorms,

HIV-positive is common- NOT airborne.

Every IV-drug user, every sex addict should test

for STDs, viruses piggyback on others, I suggest

the use of clean syringes, condoms- that means EVERY TIME.

Contracting the disease is a sickness; spreading it is a crime.

For the nurses and the admitting staff, proximity to patients

is not going to infect you, preventive maintenance

and avoiding bodily fluids from causing accidental contamination

are your responsibility. There is no known cure and devastation

is the outcome of an error, lives are at stake.

Not your own as long as you know there are rules you cannot break.

When babies are born infected, often they are shunned until they die.

I once held such a child in my arms, and only one of us cried.

It is probably not my best poem but it is based upon the info you provided and with a bit of a personal experience from some volunteer work I did caring for abandoned HIV-positive infants for a short time. Post at Helkion Haven with my blessing. I think something got in my eyes just now and I can't see what I typed.

Questor was really informative too.

It was once stated that the virus of HIV-AIDS came from monkeys. As it is a sexually transmitted disease, then people wondered how could some people have such sexual practices so grotesque as having sex with monkeys. No. Stupid. It is by eating badly cooked monkey meat that the virus came to be transmitted. Most probably, it started in tribes of Africa (where the most AIDS cases are reported) when hunted monkeys were eaten in the field with no thorough cooking. The virus then got entry via the sores or wounds in the mouth. The women got it from these tribal men. Children born thereafter got it through their parents. Some unmarried women, maybe, through cover of shrubs or trees. And then the infected maidens of the tribe got cuddled by white masters who hired their services other than, or in addition to, household work. Or else, these maidens sold bits of love-making in the pubs or houses of that purpose. That's the trivia I am sharing until I could write a sonnet on this unusual topic, unusual for a sonnet.

An Hello To The Patients

How sad to have the morrow break unsure,

Though Medicine advanced in leaps and bounds,

As steps toward recovery and cure

For AIDS victims remained on zero grounds;

Lepers, we discourage from social calls,

And AIDS patients, though of another case,

We relegate behind preventive walls,

Adding insult to what is plain disgrace;

But mark, a sweet hello or touch of hand,

Would not, at all, infect most anyone,

Only by blood and sex, we understand,

The transfer of the AIDS virus is done;

.....Our attitude we have to realign,

.....Victims of Fate we need never malign.

I'll post here, if that's OK.

As a gay female born as such

in a life long monogamous relationship

I live free of HIV

with someone I love so much

I'm not blind or ignorant to the scare

nor exploring outside of where I am

to risk the inane, the insane,

have I ever attempted the dare.

I'm not worried about a best

and have heard girls in the bathroom say

"No worries a cold sore, it's only simplex 1

their quest? Their test?

I'm on a haiku roll at the moment, so that's the best I can offer

there are dangers in

having unprotected sex

don't gamble with life

F*ck Top Contributor, I just got my Real N*gga badge.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

a sickness which is not desirous

safely you have not played

if AIDS in your body does pervade...

When having anal intercourse with gays

Your life is counted not in years but days

If you discover that is where you’re at

For God’s sake, don’t forget your party hat