AIDS (2nd revision) (Written for UNI's World AIDS Day event)

Six thousand people died yesterday
Six thousand people died today
I dreamed I tattooed their names
on my body; I committed their life stories
to memory; I learned all their favorite songs
and made a playlist and played it back for you.
I dreamed that I dove into a salty pool
of the tears their relatives had shed
and 6,000 pairs of eyeballs stared back at me
as if to say,
"What can the living do for the dead?"
What can I do
as 6,000 people die today
and 6,000 more will die tomorrow of AIDS?
Six thousand? I cannot even fathom that number.
I don't even have 6,000 Facebook friends.
Six thousand people did not go to my high school
and I do not have, nor will I ever have,
$6,000 in my bank account.
So what the hell is 6,000?
Six thousand is a mother who can
no longer breastfeed her child.
Six thousand is a father who quit his job
because he grows weaker and weaker.
Six thousand is a child who watches
her mother and father slowly die
and realizes she is next.
I am not a scientist
and I can't research a cure
I am not a doctor
and I can't provide treatment
I am not a philanthropist
and I cannot donate millions of dollars
to help fund treatment
But I have a voice.
And I can either use that voice
and remind people that 6,000 people
die every day of AIDS in this world,
or I can stay silent
as I try to fall asleep
because this epidemic is like taking a sedative
Millions are dying, have died, repetitive
We are the critics, the blowhards, the cynics
Ignoring the carnage until we're the victims
We wait, count backwards 100 to 1
Till the drug takes effect, then sleep will come
Dreams aren't for everyone, not if you're poor
Or black, or gay, or your country's at war
The nations of Africa fighting for life
Just like our neighbors next door
While we lie awake at night
Bribing sleep for one hour more
That's what intentions are for
Never you mind all the killing and dying
Never you mind all the orphaned kids crying
Never you mind the people you meet
Growing thinner and older and weaker each week
Just sweep it under the rug and pretend
It's not really happening, it will all end
We can't know the cost and we can't comprehend
So we take a pill, no time to spend
For once in our lives we should take a stand
For once, be humble and lend a hand
Don't say, "I can't; it's too much to do."
What if the crisis mattered to you?