James

James was his name,
We used to sleep together.
I would not call him my man,
I would not call him anything.
He was my feel good guy,
The guy who would tickle my fancy,
Not to mention my other parts.

One day, I called him,
But the line rang out,
I texted him,
But no reply came.
Time on my hands,
I went by his apartment.
A woman answered the door,
Eyes red, nose raw.

She asked me my name,
Then extracted an envelop
From a stack.
It had James' handwriting on it.
She closed the door on me.

Baby, the letter started,
As I read it in my bed,
Covers to my chin,
But fear still chilling my bones.
You know we been together
More times than I can remember,
How can I write this
And not feel like I'm hurting you.

Baby, I have AIDS,
I've had it for the past
Seven years.
The simple fact that you have
This letter means
I've passed on.

I cried,
Cried tears of fear,
Cried tears of mourning,
Cried tears of relief.
Relief that every damn time,
I played it safe.

You see James
Was a feel good guy,
He knew how to make
A woman feel good.
For a man to know that,
He had to go through
A lot of women.
So you know I was not
Going to take a chances.