Poetry
by Shurland H. Aird

Do Not Limit Me

Do not limit me.
Don't deny me.
Don't say I can't
Because I am not six feet tall
Because I am not buffed to the max
Because I don't own a Jag or a Penthouse over Central Park.

Do not limit me.
Don't deny me.
Don't say I can't
Because I am not white
Because I cannot fight
Because I have manners
or respect for my elders
Because I have HIV
or no hair on my body.

I do not limit you.
I know you can actually be
a human being too.

Shurland H. Aird, a forty-eight-year old gay man of Caribbean and Scottish heritage, began writing poetry in 1980. He came out to his family in 1989, the same year he tested positive for HIV. Currently, he resides in New York City.