A Poem by Gisele

Gisele is from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and has been living with HIV for 27 years. You can read more about her journey by visiting her blog.

God Touches Me

My shoulders are blades of flesh,
they hold my skinny arms
to hands that move this pen across
the page as it reaches the end
of a long lived life that was meant
to bend fold and remend.

These feet have already left,
I can feel it in my chest; these
lips want to smile the day away.

I have nothing else to say.

Knees to my chin; how long
has that been, to crouch, cuddle
what is now so thin. Press and
pull, it all fits in.

The warmth and the cool, these
toes aren't mine. They belong to
the sublime, up my pants you'll
find my legs weak and spindly.
A jelly belly that shakes in my tummy.

My arms hold loops of skin. They are
far away and my head needs covering
but the sun still warms my neck and my
face is full of laughter, because God has
reached out his hand to me again.