Mechanism of HIV Persistence

A click, whir-humming starts in the basement
then the unique thrilling sound of a flame
igniting inside the iron furnace;
and the crack-clatter of ice cubes falling
from the ice machine inside the freezer
inside the refrigerator humming
in the dim-lit kitchen while I’m in bed
listening so hard my ears are aching.

I know at night after dark I can hear
it at work, the slow hum of it inside
where the meds cannot reach; the “reservoirs”
are somewhere deep in my bones or hidden
in the brain. Click like a lock un locking
—cause it has keys; it just lets itself in.

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