What else is there to watch?
A few channels of remember when that crazy guy
and let’s play smear the queer
before you found out. Back then
you drove a truck. It was manly.
You listened to heavy metal
on your way to the mega church.
You heard the reverb of studs
down the hardwood aisle.
You saw the pews pleat into dunes
and the bishop offered you a wink,
a veil of aphids before the Our Father.
You saw the congregation turn into steam,
and heat rises. Oh, but it’s a dry heat
and this saloon is made of bone and pride.
They told you again and again
how the unchallenged peace
would one day answer all of this!
Come on, there’s some truth
to the idle hands, idle pills, the waiting
and the side effects:
if your sexual partner finds out
if your insurance finds out
if your friends change their vocabulary
Pray it away and hit the pillow
with a tennis racket. Inject yourself
with strange faith: that’s how children grow up
healthy, right?
Now the twitch in you,
a garb of jokes and antibodies.
Young man, you’re not like the other white people
here. You’ll have to learn another language to survive.