CONTENTS Introduction

INTRODUCTION

My pen and I poised In sweet writing therapy Early in the morn.

—IRIS ELIZABETH SANKEY, ASC POETRY LEADER

A longtime member of ASC’s Creative Writing Workshop celebrates the creation of her 600th haiku—a form of Japanese verse she learned about in our class two years ago.

A newer workshop member hands in a 100-page handwritten memoir on what living with HIV has taught him about compassion and inner strength.

A first-timer puts pen to paper to create her very first poem and marvels after reading it aloud to the group. “In a poem, I can say things I’ve never told anyone before,” she says, “Poetry is liberating!”

Poetry is liberating. It is also—as the haiku above suggests—a most healing form of therapy. Now in its seventh year, ASC’s Creative Writing Workshop is living proof that creative outlets for people living with, at risk for, and affected by HIV/AIDS support the emotional wellbeing and empowerment that go hand in hand with long-term risk reduction, health promotion, and recovery.

In this, our tenth issue of Situations, you’ll see how ASC’s poets use creative truth-telling and piercing insight as vehicles for personal transformation.

May the words of these gifted and courageous poets inspire and delight you.

Gerry Gomez Pearlberg Workshop Leader

P.S. ASC continues to feature its talented poets on its website. Visit www.ascnyc.org to read poems and interviews with our poets, and to learn more about the Creative Writing Workshop and AIDS Service Center NYC as a whole.