I look, I touch, and I feel, Unrecognisable in the mirror. Pale, gaunt and undernourished. I no longer fear the thoughts and views of prejudice, Realisation that my time is running out, That I am dying, is my true fear. I feel no different in my mind, But my body no longer responds as it should. I am under constant threat from illness, And have lost count of the tablets - so many. Each night I cry, as I lie alone, And ache with the pain of love for my partner, Already gone before me. My despair clutches at fading hope, I refused to believe the reality, Until now. My resolve is waning with no prospect of a cure. I was once so athletic, now confined to a wheelchair. I am both young and old at the same time. I have no regrets, just feel cheated of a life. I am an outcast in the society I was brought up to believe in, My future stolen in one moment of love. I gaze at my partner???s photograph in its frame, Happy memories flood back through a haze of tears. Love and friendship kept ambitions alive, Before I was left to cope on my own. I replace the picture on its shelf, And know I will be with him soon.