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Janele Thomas
English-123-5008
Critical Thinking
February, 21, 2020

The Countdown

The poem I am choosing to respond to is “5. 4AM” by Gil Cuadros¹. This poem is a part
of his Quilt Series​, ​which is included in his book ​City of God². T
​ he series includes 6
poems that give the reader a first-hand account of how it is to lose someone to HIV. ​The 
title of this particular poem carries a significant amount of importance because the 
sequence of events entailed happened just before 4am.​ ​The poem brings the reader 
along with Cuadros while he experiences panic as the thing he feared becomes his 
reality. It sheds light on the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s where a large number of 
people lost their lives. In my experience, this topic is often spoken about in a very 
technical way. It is so rare for me to see it brought up with so much compassion and 
emotion attached, but I think this poem is something everyone needs to read. 

There are many parts in the poem that stand out to me, but none more so than 
Cuadros seeing the duration of their relationship flash before his eyes. Cuadros says: 

In those minutes I’d relived our first kiss, 

his arms around me and the small ceremony 

where we exchanged rings  

and he gave me mine in a box,  

wrapped inside another, 

five in all. Five smooth years 

enough to make my parent’s silver marriage 

feel wooden.³ (Cuadros lines 25-33) 

Reading this shows just how in love they seemed to be with each other. No specific 
names were brought up, but I believe this is the first time in the series that Cuadros' 
parents are mentioned. The poetic device that seems to be used the most in this 
section is repetition which usually signifies that something is important. In these two 
sentences, the number five is repeated twice. Once as being the number of boxes, the 
ring was wrapped in, and also as the number of years that the couple had spent 
together. The theme of repetition goes beyond these lines as John passes away five 
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minutes to 4am. The poem is called "5. 4AM", and is the 5th poem in the series. The 
number five seems to be a significant number in their relationship.​ ​These lines are the 
very few within the series that give the reader a view of their lives together before the 
disease so it carries a lot of weight for me. It showed that John had a sense of humor 
and that they had hit a significant milestone in their relationship that Cuadros felt so 
proud of. It romanticized their relationship. It allowed me to see them as more than 
people who were suffering emotionally and physically. Another poetic device used is 
narrative. These lines tell a story, as short as it may be, of their relationship leading up 
to Cuadros’ moment of panic. 

My choice of poem revealed to me that I am someone who lives for descriptive writing. 
It makes me feel as if I can visualize what is happening. This poem seems to be a very 
vulnerable one for Cuadros as he is rushing to the hospital to see John before he 
passes but a lot of factors just seem to be out of his control. He cannot make Mike (his 
friend) arrive any faster. He is stuck with his thoughts and nerves as John is slipping 
away. A moment of anxiety that I can relate to. I chose to analyze the lines I did 
because it is one of the few ones that shows beautiful memories in what seems to be a 
moment of despair. A time before John got sick as well as a time that is important to 
the poem and their relationship as a whole. 

Works Cited
​ ITY LIGHTS BOOKS, 1994
1. Cuadros, Gil. “5. 4AM”, ​City of God, C
​ ITY LIGHTS BOOKS, 1994
2. Cuadros, Gil. ​City of God, C
3. Cuadros, Gil. “5. 4AM”, ​City of God, C​ ITY LIGHTS BOOKS, 1994, pg 133-134
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