The child opened her eyes
She did not ask to be born,
Into a world that so often denies
Understanding of the plague
That brings so many to demise...

They say it came from the monkey
From some far away jungle land,
Carried by man from shore to sea.
So many who had it did not understand
Until they gave it a name called HIV...

They told her mother it was HIV
It was not a result of shameful living.
She had known no dubious character or unclean company,
Out of the shadows some fools would be unforgiving
Carried away by this disease like a modern Persephone...

She is gone now to where i don't know,
Forced to be someone she did not know existed.
To me she blossoms when there is no cold or snow.
I see her when the green comes and vines are twisted,
When the spring sun comes on the flower with a warm day-glow...