Love's Instruments

by Melvin Dixon, Melvin Dixon

One of two collections of poetry by poet, novelist, and educator Melvin Dixon, whose worked chronicled the lives of black gay men. He died of HIV-related illnesses in 1992. 

Heartbeats

Work out. Ten laps.
Chin ups. Look good.

Steam room. Dress warm.
Call home. Fresh air.

Eat right. Rest well.
Sweetheart. Safe sex.

Sore throat. Long flu.
Hard nodes. Beware.

Test blood. Count cells.
Reds thin. Whites low.

Dress warm. Eat well.
Short breath. Fatigue.

Night sweats. Dry cough.
Loose stools. Weight loss.

Get mad. Fight back.
Call home. Rest well.

Don’t cry. Take charge.
No sex. Eat right.

Call home. Talk slow.
Chin up. No air.

Arms wide. Nodes hard.
Cough dry. Hold on.

Mouth wide. Drink this.
Breathe in. Breathe out.

No air. Breathe in.
Breathe in. No air.

Black out. White rooms.
Head hot. Feet cold.

No work. Eat right.
CAT scan. Chin up.

Breathe in. Breathe out.
No air. No air.

Thin blood. Sore lungs.
Mouth dry. Mind gone.

Six months? Three weeks?
Can’t eat. No air.

Today? Tonight?
It waits. For me.

Sweet heart. Don’t stop.
Breathe in. Breathe out.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT

79 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1995

Reviews

[Lindsay]

I'm not crying; you're crying.

[Tara Betts]

Love's Instruments is one of those widely under-read books. The cover art is by his brother, who also died of AIDS. One of my favorite poems in this book is "Heartbeats." It's also one of the few poetry books that talks about HIV & AIDS from a poet of color's perspective. I think there's Assotto Saint, Essex Hemphill and Randall Horton's anthology FINGERNAILS ACROSS A CHALKBOARD, but not many individual poets of color acknowleged or published.

[Sue]

Just read poem - Heartbeats
Sad poem of sickness and dying.

[The Atlantic]

"So many poetry collections from the ’80s and ’90s capture loving in the face of an imminent end. A favorite of mine is Dixon’s posthumous 1995 collection, 'Love’s Instruments' (he died in 1992), including the poem 'Heartbeats.' Dixon ends this poem 'Sweet heart. Don’t stop. / Breathe in. Breathe out.'” — Joseph Osmundson

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/arc...

[Pachyderm Bookworm]

"Love's Instruments" seem both fastidious and facetious with the publication of this posthumous volume of poems by the late Melvin Dixon, who died from AIDS related complications.

#

"Love's instruments,"as evined with simultaneous themes of both abandonment and adulation, make this book an absolute necessity to have been written, and to (continue to) be read.

[Sarah]

Like a punch to the gut. Perfect.