Dear every homophobe and racist bastard.
I love you, simply and dearly.
Forever and always, because
that is how we all should be.
That is how we all should live--
wrapped up in the arms of one another
living life to the fullest and loving
our neighbors as we love ourselves.
But I must tell you--
Damn you and your soap box!
I love you, simply and dearly.
Forever and always, because
that is how we all should be.
That is how we all should live--
wrapped up in the arms of one another
living life to the fullest and loving
our neighbors as we love ourselves.
But I must tell you--
Damn you and your soap box!
I need to borrow your hate
for a day or two. Maybe
even just an hour,
just long enough so that I may feel what it is
to live inside your skin.
You know you have a problem
when you are reduced to a fate
of borrowing another man's hate
and running wild through the doors
that have no locks, no chains,
and no guards to keep out the fear.
I need to borrow your hate
so I can pretend to have an emotion like you--
so I can text you greater-than colon dash close-parenthesis
L-o-L F-T-W exclamation point--
because, today, that is how the world speaks--
in symbols and gaps,
because we're all in a hurry,
and hate can be fed like a slice of cake
when the person you're speaking to
only has a phone to receive your bullet.
I need to borrow your hate
so that when I look in the mirror,
I see what you see much clearer--
the way sweet must no longer cling to my eyes,
the way disgust is painted across my lips.
I will know that face in the mirror so damn well,
and I will call him "queer"!
Let me borrow your hate,
and crumble it up like every bad idea you ever had!
Let me borrow your anger and your fear,
that which you wear like a neck tie,
and sometimes like the noose
that people like you use to wrapped around the necks
of the beautiful souls of black men, women and children,
and I will baptize them anew with love
that you can wear like your own skin.
Let me borrow your hate
so that maybe I'll see
just how my kissing a man
could have any fucking impact on your daily life.
Maybe I'll see how the world
could be affected by true love, and not
your worthless definition that marriage
is simply meant for a man and woman.
Why shouldn't two women or two men,
who love each other truly
be allowed to unite their lives openly and freely?
Maybe I'll see how the color of her skin
could reach inside your home and set your world on fire,
or how the word "faggot" could ever find it's way
inside the micro-mind you seem to possess.
Maybe I'll see how your tiny, self-loathing,
self-righteous atmosphere could find
a place in this great big world.
Let me borrow your hate,
that with which you load your magazines,
that which compels you to open fire,
that which you wield, masked as fear,
that which leaves a bitter taste on God’s ear--
that hate that has claimed the lives of many,
lives you deemed worthless,
seemingly, because they were gay.
Let me borrow that hate so that I may understand,
so that we may connect,
so that we may overcome,
so that this pain, this sorrow, may be understood,
may be reasoned,
may be justified,
may have a point,
because, at this moment, it can not.
Let me borrow your hate,
so that I may understand you better,
so that we may get through this together,
and come out on the other side as brothers
Let me borrow your hate
so maybe I'll understand
within all this fog and confusion
exactly what it is that we did to you!
Adieu!
for a day or two. Maybe
even just an hour,
just long enough so that I may feel what it is
to live inside your skin.
You know you have a problem
when you are reduced to a fate
of borrowing another man's hate
and running wild through the doors
that have no locks, no chains,
and no guards to keep out the fear.
I need to borrow your hate
so I can pretend to have an emotion like you--
so I can text you greater-than colon dash close-parenthesis
L-o-L F-T-W exclamation point--
because, today, that is how the world speaks--
in symbols and gaps,
because we're all in a hurry,
and hate can be fed like a slice of cake
when the person you're speaking to
only has a phone to receive your bullet.
I need to borrow your hate
so that when I look in the mirror,
I see what you see much clearer--
the way sweet must no longer cling to my eyes,
the way disgust is painted across my lips.
I will know that face in the mirror so damn well,
and I will call him "queer"!
Let me borrow your hate,
and crumble it up like every bad idea you ever had!
Let me borrow your anger and your fear,
that which you wear like a neck tie,
and sometimes like the noose
that people like you use to wrapped around the necks
of the beautiful souls of black men, women and children,
and I will baptize them anew with love
that you can wear like your own skin.
Let me borrow your hate
so that maybe I'll see
just how my kissing a man
could have any fucking impact on your daily life.
Maybe I'll see how the world
could be affected by true love, and not
your worthless definition that marriage
is simply meant for a man and woman.
Why shouldn't two women or two men,
who love each other truly
be allowed to unite their lives openly and freely?
Maybe I'll see how the color of her skin
could reach inside your home and set your world on fire,
or how the word "faggot" could ever find it's way
inside the micro-mind you seem to possess.
Maybe I'll see how your tiny, self-loathing,
self-righteous atmosphere could find
a place in this great big world.
Let me borrow your hate,
that with which you load your magazines,
that which compels you to open fire,
that which you wield, masked as fear,
that which leaves a bitter taste on God’s ear--
that hate that has claimed the lives of many,
lives you deemed worthless,
seemingly, because they were gay.
Let me borrow that hate so that I may understand,
so that we may connect,
so that we may overcome,
so that this pain, this sorrow, may be understood,
may be reasoned,
may be justified,
may have a point,
because, at this moment, it can not.
Let me borrow your hate,
so that I may understand you better,
so that we may get through this together,
and come out on the other side as brothers
Let me borrow your hate
so maybe I'll understand
within all this fog and confusion
exactly what it is that we did to you!
Adieu!