And Still . . .
We Keep On Loving

There is no one
who threatens you less,
that you are afraid of
more.
You lock us up in prisons,
bind our hands,
manacle our feet,
gag our mouths,
blindfold our eyes,
cut off our ears,
put us away
and tell us
the world no longer know us…
And still… we keep on loving.

You smile behind our backs
and flick your wrists, and mince,
and swear
you don't know
a single one of us.
Yet
we quaf your hair,
we arrange your flowers,
we paint your art,
we perform your plays,
we say your Masses,
we wait your tables,
we clean your homes,
we taylor your suits,
we play your sports,
we catalog your books,
we design your dresses,
we massage your bodies,
we write your songs,
we prepare your cuisine,
we trade your commodities,
we build your cities,
we record your history,
we teach your children,
we create your culture…
Yes, it's true,
you
don't
know a single one of us.
And still… we keep on loving.

You ask us why we can't keep to ourselves,
and then you hunt us down
in our neighborhoods
to bash our heads in.
You ostracize our public displays of affection,
and then you go tonsil-bobbing
at crosswalks
while you wait for the lights
to change.
You think our sissy caricatures
in films, and plays, and TV
are SO funny,
and then you haven't a clue
why Stonewall
was such a riot.
You deny us the right to adopt,
and then you envy our disposable income.
You tell us to act more like a man,
and then you wonder,
"Which one's the woman?"
You endlessly obsess about our sex lives,
and then you blame us for your disfunction.
You condemn us at every turn,
and fill our lives with misery,
and then you can't figure out
why so many of our young ones
commit suicide.
And still… we keep on loving.

It will not matter, you know.
No matter what you do,
no matter what you say,
no matter what you think, feel, or scheme…
we will continue.
After all,
we were the first quirks
of the first qaurks
in the first
bang
of the universe,
blazing
our own
divergent
path -
dancing, dancing,
dancing our "different" dance.
We were the first
free radicals
in the ethereal plasma,
luring the cosmos to
change, change,
twisting homo-gen-e-ous,
with our
"homo-genius."
Did you really,
really,
think
we would
simply…
go away?
No dears…
we will continue.
And we will still…
Keep
on
loving.

Two Bears
5 August 2002