I thought this poem was made all the more interesting knowing that it was written by an actual physician, and was based on his real life experiences. Im not sure whether or not the person in the poem died of AIDS, but it sort of seems that way to me. This poem actually reminded me of a character from the novel Dry by Augusten Burroughs. The character in this novel named Pighead dies of aids but has a piece of jewlery made for Augusten that he recieves only after Pighead dies. For whatever reason this poem sort of reminded me of the part in the novel right after Augusten leaves the jewelry store and walks down the street crying. I guess I was reminded of this because after the person in the poem dies the narrartor talks about his breath filling his own lungs and their lips touching. Sort of off topic, but I really enjoyed the poem, it was really sad to me, but very touching.