Printed in the Providence Journal


Issue of the week: "Don Juan Nushawn"
by Seth Brown


Diseases are often a problem today,
  and AIDS is among the most feared.
It was once thought to be a sickness of the gay,
  but now this issue has been cleared.

Anyone can suffer from this epidemic,
  it strikes slowly at first, but then spreads.
The result is a horror that's very endemic,
  and something that everyone dreads.

In Jamestown, N.Y., a man named Nushawn
  was the bearer of more than bad news,
The gift that keeps giving when the giver is gone
  is the thing that he chose to abuse.

With knowledge that it would have dire consequence,
  he had sex while he was infected.
For acts such as these, there can be no defense;
  any mercy would be misdirected.

Another quandary that soon after transpired
  is the fact that in school or at home
Safe sex is not taught, nor is news of Acquired
  Immune Deficiency Syndrome

It's hard for the town to address what's at stake
  when their morals dictate a taboo,
But to hush up this problem would be a mistake
  since it could end up affecting you.

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