The BlueIris Semi-Nightly Poetry Break, 6/16/09 (warning: graphic language; NSFW)

[BlueIris]

Repost.

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic"

Defending you, my country, hurts
My eyes. I see the drums, the glory,
The marching through the gory,
Unthinkable mud of soldiers' guts

And opened hearts: I want to serve.
I join the military,
Somehow knowing that I'll never marry.
The barracks' silence as I shave

Is secretive and full of cocks.
I think to myself, What if I'm a queer,
What if too many years
Go by and then my brain unlocks—

The days seem uniformed,
Crisp salutes in all the trees;
A sandstorm buries the casualties
Of a war. What if I were born

This way, I think to myself,
What if I were dead,
An enemy bullet in my head.
I see oil burning in the Gulf,

Which hurts my eyes. My sergeant cries.
Now he's a real man—
I sucked his cock behind a van
In the Presidio, beneath a sky

So full of orange clouds
I thought I was in love.
I think to myself, What have
I become? I lose myself in the crowds

Of the Castro, the months go by
And suddenly they want to lift the ban.
I don't think they can.
I still want to die

My death of honor, I want to die
Defending values I don't understand;
The men I see walking hand in hand
Bring this love song to my mind.

—Rafael Campo

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear BlueIris!

Graphic is right...

But still, a fascinating look inside a gay soldier's mind...

I enjoyed this...

Thank you!

:hi: