Steph
Timeline for numbers
By: Stephanie Martinez
Disillusion for the illusionists
Making life appear longer than the timeline
A predestined fate
Due to a predisposed slate
Positive
As the results lay in your hands
Positive
Your life becomes a timeline
And now everyday your fighting
Fighting the stereotype of life
Infectious disease
More like trying to keep normality dancing at the club cause you haven't had enough
Before you go home gotta have fun
Before the world stops seeing you and sees what has become
The person you trusted gave you a life sentence
HIV is a serial killer
Stopping at all hospitals
No discrimination as it infects your body
Making life harder than the easy breaks
The reminded mistakes
The forget me not
Remake me into a live action
Save them from their past actions
Save them from the discretions
Grinding nails into rust
Infection to the blood
Don't ever get cut
The fear that you will end up all alone
These ways you can catch something from a small touch
HIV positive
The paper reads
The world is no longer as it seems
But living is a must
Living is changing what is a must
And keeping your life the same
Changes the past plus
Life contingencies
Forever a glass wall apart from being free
Just treat you for you
What happened to friends who used to be
Friends who understood
Your life was not a timeline on a sheet of paper
But eyes and lungs to see and breathe
A body just as everybody
A life with a purpose
The consequence of life unexpectedly
Where you will be treated equally
Be positive about life
Instead of fearing what's right
To be able to share the time
Of living
A number on a chart
Designed to start
Awareness
Be aware you are not a threat
Be aware you are a human
Save them from stereotype
Same them from the start of illness
Save them from the scares
Save them from white blood cell drops
As the hospital gets colder
The faves get older
And as time evolves
This sheet is nothing but a tall tale
An expiration date
Placed on your life expectancy
Outliving your timeline
Creating your own oath
Positive
But the world is still the same
Living for life and not for your state.
Reflection on November 2nd.
Trip to NYU campus in Manhattan to watch 2 short films by WRRQ Collective.
Both films talk about transgender issues except one shows the gruesome side of what happens to transgender people. The other is showing the relationships between transgender people and how the normal effects of life such as cheating can change someone's life. The change that can happen after someone transitions and after someone is told they have HIV. The way that people are told to live their lives in fear of being who they are to then live their life simply as a human.
Hitting on another subject when we visited Cuchifritos there was a installment of 3 pieces of art. It was deciphered to having been about the different stages of having HIV. These photographs had different amounts of apples in each picture. Each picture is a portrayal of someone's life whether they are depressed or happy — it showed in the little details. Each photo was unique and expressed a different story.
Tying that to the fact that three characters in Wild Ponies had HIV. This provided another side to the story of intimacy not only between transgender people but relationships in general. The importance of support and living the best life you can even while having HIV. Which is more common than most people think — I have a friend with HIV.
Interview with Steph by Sarahfina
