Feet pound pavement-a lazy run across the five-lane street,
Shoes eating asphalt,
drumming tothe slow blink of the bright red hand.
The curbside shadow looms:
I do not stop my run, no.
Away from the home, away from the lights,
into the night.
The sky is a dark purple-indigo,
sun gone to horizon, the moon
mysterious behind clouds.
My feet go faster, legs buzzing
a quiet protest in the back of my mind,muscle straining
moving my legs up
down, up, down,
down the stretch of sidewalk
where the weeds crack stone.
The street is bare, cars from the last stoplight
just coming ahead,
their lights anonymous and impartial,
gazes flickering at me, then away
as I run and run and run.
A sudden burst of light
explodes my sight, and I
look up in wonder.
The deep black clouds have showed their sign,
lightning lancing low against the skyline,
a splash of white
on the indigo canvas.
I am filled, now, with electricity
that courses through the air miles away-
my feet go faster, faster than I've gone before,
running and running to the place of my salvation.
Soon the desert fills my lungs and eyes
With the silent sound of creatures
breathing in the heavy dark.
Tall Saguaro guardians
Watch impassively as I stumble,
And silently I fall.
Hairs on my arms slowly stand,
looking around to see what happens next.
They sense it in the air,
They sense it on my lips,
They sense it in the earth.
Electricity.
4.9.09
Anti-Mormon Gay Protests [commentary]
Now, I'm going to keep this entry (relatively) short and sweet.
I am gay, yes. And I want to have the right to be married, yes. But do I advocate protesting in front of Mormon churches because the LDS church decided to fund "Yes on Prop. 8" campaigns?
No.
I think this is an error on the part of gay people (and even Whoopi Goldberg, who was awesome enough to come out and support her gay compatriots). We should not be protesting the LDS church- they have every right to be supporting what they believe in. It isn't necessarily the fault of the LDS church that Prop 8 was passed. They have a first amendment right to speak out about what they believe. Unfortunately in this case it is keeping marriage an institution between a man and a woman. But they still have the right to support that view as they see fit.
A better course of action would be focusing energy and money on reaching out to the community. We need visibility. It needs to be shown that gay people come in all shapes, sizes, and religions. This is a situation similar to ones that took place directly after Prop 8's passing- many people blamed the fact that the proposition passed on a majority of African-American votes. What can you do? Advocate to the community. Do PSA's. Speak to people. Some people cannot be persuaded, and I honestly think that the upper eschelons of LDS church society are set in their ways- yelling gay people outside their building only makes them feel vindicated in keeping a holy sacrament from screaming heathens. Leave the hard-ass churches alone and focus on making alliances in other places- large businesses, lobbyists, and more accepting denominations.
We need to focus our energy on reaching out, not pointing fingers.
I am gay, yes. And I want to have the right to be married, yes. But do I advocate protesting in front of Mormon churches because the LDS church decided to fund "Yes on Prop. 8" campaigns?
No.
I think this is an error on the part of gay people (and even Whoopi Goldberg, who was awesome enough to come out and support her gay compatriots). We should not be protesting the LDS church- they have every right to be supporting what they believe in. It isn't necessarily the fault of the LDS church that Prop 8 was passed. They have a first amendment right to speak out about what they believe. Unfortunately in this case it is keeping marriage an institution between a man and a woman. But they still have the right to support that view as they see fit.
A better course of action would be focusing energy and money on reaching out to the community. We need visibility. It needs to be shown that gay people come in all shapes, sizes, and religions. This is a situation similar to ones that took place directly after Prop 8's passing- many people blamed the fact that the proposition passed on a majority of African-American votes. What can you do? Advocate to the community. Do PSA's. Speak to people. Some people cannot be persuaded, and I honestly think that the upper eschelons of LDS church society are set in their ways- yelling gay people outside their building only makes them feel vindicated in keeping a holy sacrament from screaming heathens. Leave the hard-ass churches alone and focus on making alliances in other places- large businesses, lobbyists, and more accepting denominations.
We need to focus our energy on reaching out, not pointing fingers.
1.9.09
School [sketch]
Early morning thoughts (taking place at approximately 7 am, when nobody has yet arrived at school).
Mornings are
white tennis shoes on
dingy gray
broken bones
and mollusc bits.
Mornings are
the dingy gray of
a dingy sky,
while deep green leaves
broil madly overhead.
Mornings are
White bulidings standing
still as stone,
Chalk lines against a
fragile sky.
Mornings are
white tennis shoes on
dingy gray
broken bones
and mollusc bits.
Mornings are
the dingy gray of
a dingy sky,
while deep green leaves
broil madly overhead.
Mornings are
White bulidings standing
still as stone,
Chalk lines against a
fragile sky.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
