ibsen's words

Rob the average man of his life-illusion, and you rob him of his happiness at the same stroke.

A video of a syringe withdrawing blood from an arm flashes on the TV screen. Somewhere at the back of my head, the finger of reality suddenly jumpstarted my switchboard. Then the video went on to resonate the voice of a man who testified that he has been doing "that" every three months since he's "jowa" is "positive." My instinct was right.

I checked what was on GMA News TV and as if by fate's design, the trailer for "Positibo" was showing. At the get go, it tugged my heartstrings. Without still knowing what the commercial was, I thought it is something proximate to me.

And so the sneek peek went on, the whole preview ended, and the ominous voice blasted from our speakers, "Positibo. Sabado ng 8:40 ng gabi sa Front Row. GMA News TV. Channel 11."

Tssss, that was all I said.

My mom, who was busying herself with a virtual deck of Spider Solitaire, glanced at the TV while the commercial was going on. If not for her curiosity and due respect, I would have flipped the channel midway through the trailer to Nickelodeon.

the pod

It’s a small world
Of familiar faces
That band of brothers
Whose briefs might’ve swaped
Already, among others,
When they sallied forth
Toward the tract
Of protrusions and depressions
One moment, or altogether
In some tiresome night
Or backdoor rendezvous
As rituals command
Hip thrusts and dislodging
During the chances of intervals
Veiled by the cloak of virtue

Never mind the saint
The chaste funambulist
Or the scarred
Who disfigured the mirror
And whence cavemen catch breath
Still afford to exclaim:
“Cheese!”
When a dry day ends
Turned them to bored lackeys
Among their company
So small, yet cramped
That virility slithers
Silent but intense
Along the cords
Of their names
And sinister secrets

AIDS virus group-N

Uninfected kids should be really, really, really, really careful these days.

-----

Rare strain of AIDS virus moves beyond Cameroon
Agence France-Presse

A very rare strain of AIDS virus previously found only among a few people in Cameroon has most probably spread outside the West African country, according to a case reported by The Lancet on Friday.

The first identified infection with the so-called "group N" strain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was found in 1998 in a Cameroonian woman who had progressed to AIDS.

Since then, more than 12,000 HIV-infected patients living in Cameroon have been tested for group-N infection, but only 12 cases, including two couples, have ever been found.

The new case, reported by French doctors, involves a 57-year-old man who was admitted to the Saint Louis Hospital Paris in January suffering from fever, rash, swollen lymph glands and genital ulceration.

The patient had high levels of a virus in the HIV-1 family, but tests to pinpoint the particular strain proved inconclusive. On February 9, the patient developed facial paralysis.

The French team then carried out further tests on blood samples, which were found to react in an antibody essay of the N strain.

Tracing his sexual history, the researchers believe the infection was "probably" acquired from intercourse with a partner in Togo, from which he had just returned.

the distance of Proxima

Light years. From here. I see. Hope's ray.
I move. And kneel. And shoot. And miss.

Discern. Twin stars. One longs. For light.
That one. Who could. Renew. His sky.

But stays. On bends. And wears. Godot's.
To freeze. And dream. For one's. Reborn.

One star. Astray. From his. Reaching.
Still gleams. Nay far. Minute. But there.

But he. Defies. Eon's. Despair.
And pulls. The springs. And neaps. To sway.

And whence. I see. Crystal. Beckons.
Own light. Shutters. Cleaves me. To fall.

My self's. Distance. Stone's throw. Away.
Blinds me. And hope's. Star-crossed. In awe.

For I. Harks to. Gazers'. Prescience.
Of one. That will. Commence. New air.

Some say. A star. Out there. Exists.
Whose heat. Hits home. Hearts skip. A beat.

But Muse. Still weeps. The space. Deceits.
New star. Comes pale. Versing. A knell.

The bard's. Morose. Contents. Grieving.
And with. Dashed hopes. I hop. And hope.