Jerry Chasen's Blog

Mark told me that on my birthday, he was approached by someone with a very hard luck story. He thought about what I’d do, and gave the guy a $20 bill. That made me feel so understood, and so appreciated.

I knew this would become a series when I started this poem. I’m very lucky to be partnered with Mark, and there’s no way a storebought card would tell him this the way I could myself.

This poem sums up those that preceded it. It’s also probably the last one that in any real way focused on HIV. Though the disease is still very present, it feels less immediately threatening (I know that’s not particularly PC, but it is my reality).

My then new love and I were doing a long distance dance. I found that two weeks apart was about all I could really stand.

A theme of love here–the pain of loss, the joy of a doggy friend, and the sweetness of new romance.