Monday, November 21, 2011

Breaking the Closet

You tell me it makes me less of a man;

that a man would not choose this. As

if it were even a choice, like ordering a

drink in a dark bar on a Tuesday night.

My song became silenced in mid crescendo

by the creeping thunder of that word:

faggot, faggot, faggot.

Walking tall as the columns crumbled

like the last, discarded, homemade chocolate

chip cookie at the bottom of the jar.

Pretending to feel unaffected by the blades

of hate you let fall from your lips. But,

I could not stand alone forever. My smile

worn from my face replaced by clenched,

coffee stained, enamel; my body slowly

giving way as the cancerous language of

gossip engulfs me while tumors of slander

emerge from the shadows of the background.

He came to my side, my protective shell.

He held my hand and kissed me lovingly.

Lying under the covers, the roots of his

naked body intertwined with mine.

Resting my head upon his chest;

listening to the ticking of his heart as my

eyes fall heavy, and, suddenly, faggot no

longer sounds so bad.

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