Homophobic Streets of America
So, I don’t normally post here. But I’m sort of desperate tonight.
Don’t know if any of you saw about Cal’s situation, but it’s left me heartbroken and unable to really articulate my emotions.
So I tried to capture it with a free verse of sorts. I’m not expecting a standing ovation, nor did I write it to receive any praise. The only reason I’m posting it is to maybe help any of you who are also struggling, to find peace in our common grieving. We must prevail, together.
Homophobic Streets of America
The quickened pavement beats
Heavily on the soles of my feet
as I race down these homophobic streets
of America.
Is that what they choose to call me?
Is there no respect to the people who championed for marriage equality?
Is #lovewins just a fantasy?
A figment of our imagination, not reality?
When did being gay consume my identity?
I am a brother and a son
A husband and a loved one
Let concise words be our ammunition, not bullets and guns.
Fists come quick and the irreversible damage is done.
Innocent lives being lost for political gain,
Shooters blowing up clubs for limelight and fame.
Politicians and the media avoiding the blame
Playing chess with victims like its some sort of game-
Leaving a wake of terror and pain.
Husbands holding hands is a political statement
A careless act of love so innocent turned blatant
Fuck the closet, they want us locked up in the basement.
Freedom isn’t free if it comes with enslavement.
“But look how far we’ve come” becomes the mantra of the many
Consolation prizes handed down by the gentry
Feeding us not quality, but of the plenty
Making up hashtags only when it becomes trendy
Only now, our pride parades empty
Scattering in fear from the homophobic frenzy
That sweeps our nation down to the elementary.
Growing up gay in 2016
Is by no means a coveted luxury
It’s a tale belittled to homosexual buggery
A life of which is often taken before self discovery
Spirits, if not bones, broken by religious thuggery.
The streets of America aren’t lined with gold
They are built upon the stories that were never told
Of the slaves who were bought and sold
To the women who did what they were told-
Or even to the child who took their own life never to grow old
Overcome with the burden too heavy to hold.
Our nation can no longer ignore our plight
Fuck, it’s our turn to take back the night!
Together we stand a chance only if we unite
To kindle the flame Harvey Milk told us to ignite
To come out of the closest, to love as a birthright.
Because as I see it, our movement has no end in sight
Because if injustice is alive, so is our fight.
These words whisper in the distance
I’m not asking for tolerance but merely acceptance.
What’s so hard about practicing coexistence?
And where the fuck is our national assistance?
There’s only so much of who can resist this.
Being told to kill yourself just for existing.
I don’t have the answers that I’m frantically seeking
To stop our community from violently bleeding
But what they can’t stop is our collective of healing.
One beat, one pulse, simultaneously breathing.
Gather our dead, and hold onto our weeping
Rebuild our nation, for all are who are worth safekeeping
Lessons learned, not for repeating.
Cause I don’t know about you, but I can’t take much more of this shit.