San Francisco, February 2004
I don't think this is quite done -- I think what it really wants to be is a sonnet
-- but I'm afraid it will get too precious if I don't set it free now. Some parts
are still awkward but there are bits I really like. Also, I want to get it done
while it's still topical:
San Francisco, February 2004
Soup lines, job lines, jurors summoned and waiting
There's nothing new in lines at City Hall.
Shuttered closed-in people, boredom warring desperation,
Bodies slumped, faces blank, betraying nothing at all.
But now there is a new thing in the city
This line is double file, two by two
Hands are held, there's music, joking, laughter
Old loves, new vows, on borrowed time, laws still blue.
This queue dares speak the name of loves here promised
Faces show a joy now not repressed
Hands are held as bodies lean together
No closet could contain this tenderness.
And yet there is a tension under all the celebrations
They know tomorrow could make today's joy mooted
Loves solemnized here without consent annulled
As though love's void unless in courts disputed.
Posted by dichroic at February 23, 2004 12:09 PM