Contents:
BLACK, QUEER POET SCRIB ‘HOW TO COME OUT AS GAY’ CREDIBLE POEM
"Closeted: The Same PartsI stand a dark room filled wh fear and rentmentThis stems om the ia that speculatn of my inty may hurt my well beg This dark room soon enclosed me for plenty of my childhood year and beme a sense of need Hidg felt like chas around my body but also protected me like armor I sired to be ee but when I tried to reach the door ont of me, the chas pulled me down onto my kneI n feel people on the outsi tryg to look Their ey filled wh acceptance and protectn but me were to armored to be vulnerable They stggled to get si and see but I stggled to get out and perceive a new viewA knock rignated om the door, almost as a remr An alarm, that I would snooze bee I was not ready to wake up A lump my throat began to build, filled wh words I would not have the strength to holdEverythg me up ros, and I threw up a garn I uld only lay the flowers and say such relievg words"I am gay" Closeted: VulnerabilyVulnerabilyBeg open meant beg eeBeg ee meant beg vulnerableVulnerabily meant havg cuts all over your body that bleed crimson red whout rtrictn It wasn't pa that I felt om the wounds but liberatn The same door that prsed me for so long beme a new path of life for my futureThe first step outsi this new path exulted the pure adolcent nature that was embedd to my body Lettg out a ep secret so massive relieved weight on my shoulrs that phed me down as I reached for my tt self I uld look at my reflectn and fally regnize the person lookg back at me I was a stranger that I had the pleasure to get to know This is what g out feels like. The double meang wh body and “boy” is clever and the acronym wh the poem metaphorilly speaks to the plights of a trans bo’y wak upthe bo’y looks at selfthe bo’y notic somethg missgthere is both too much and not enough flh on the bo’ythe bo’y is vered hairwhat a hairy bo’ysome mak look more like a bo’ysome mak look more like a monsterthe bo’y did not learn to shave om s fatherso tght self how to graze s sk and cut thgs offthe bo’y cuts self by accintthe blood remds the bo’y is a bo’yremds the bo’y how a bo’y bleedsremds the bo’y that not every bo’y bleedsthe bo’y talks to a girl about bleedgshe explas how this bo’y worksthis bo’y is different om hersbo’y has too much and not enough flh to be herthe blogy of a bo’y is jtbo’y will only ever be a bo’ythe bo’y is Blackso the bo’y is and will only ever be a bo’ythe bo’y uldn’t be a man if triedthe bo’y triedthe bo’y feels emptythe bo’y feels like will only ever be emptythe bo’y feels that will never hold the weight of another bo’y si of no matter how many ds f si the bo’ythe bo’y is a hollow fa attempts a nvcg veneerbo’y drs — what hips on the bo’ybo’y pats s face — what lips on the bo’ybo’y adorns self wh labels wrten for lovelier amwhat a betiful bo’ystill a bo’ybut a fierce bo’y nowa royal bo’y nowa bo’y worthy of beg lled queenwhat a dazzlg seto turn a bo’y to a lie everyone lov to look atthe bo’y looks at selfthe bo’y se all the gawkg at s glossthe bo’y hears all the mass askg for s missgthe bo’y offers all of s letters— ‘ b ’ for the birth— ‘ o ’ for the operatn— ‘ y ’ for the lack left s genwhat this bo’y would abandonfor the risk of beg realthe bo’y is realenough and too muchexistg as s own erasure— what an elive d —evadg removalavoidg regnnleavg jt a bo’ythat is never lostbut n’t be found2"Dear Gaybashers" by Jill McDonoughMIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP/Getty ImagWrten 2014, “Dear Gaybashers” by Jill McDonough is a mt-read for everybody, but pecially those who thk their tnts and jabs will sre off the LGBTQ+ muny om livg and lovg their life. They are strong, they are uned, and they uldn't re ls what you night we got bashed we told Rty howthey drove up, yelled QUEER, threw a hot dog, sped Now, is that gaybashg?
Good pied the fools: who buys a perfectly good pack of wienersand driv around San Francis chuckg them at gays? Dear bashers, you should have seen the hot dog h my neck, the srf Josey sewed om antique silk kimonos: so gay.