Beauty = Dustin Lance Black on 22 February 2009:
If Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches or by the government or by their families that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours.
Categories: civil rights · happiness · marriage · poetry
Tagged: dustin lance black, milk, oscars
My sister read one of my favorite poems on October 5, 2008 when Moya and I were legally married under a bright sunny sky. In recent days, and today, I feel like the legality of our marriage is in tatters thanks to all the hateful lies and messaging from the Prop 8 campaign. And tomorrow it could be mostly destroyed if enough Californian’s don’t go vote No On Prop 8!
I like to think that Billy Collins would agree: Vote No On Prop 8 in California!
Litany
by Billy Collins
You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine…
-Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general’s head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman’s tea cup.
But don’t worry, I’m not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and–somehow–the wine.
Categories: civil rights · marriage · poetry
Tagged: billy collins, california, litany, marriage, prop8
(thanks, Becky!)
The Master Speed
by Robert Frost
No speed of wind or water rushing by
But you have speed far greater. You can climb
Back up a stream of radiance to the sky,
And back through history up the stream of time.
And you were given this swiftness, not for haste,
Nor chiefly that you may go where you will,
But in the rush of everything to waste,
That you may have the power of standing still?
Off any still or moving thing you say.
Two such as you with such a master speed
Cannot be parted nor be swept away
From one another once you are agreed
That life is only life forevermore
Together wing to wing and oar to oar.
Categories: poetry · reading
Tagged: robert frost
I didn’t mention the chocolatier (in the NPR story linked below) that inspired (along with Gavin Newsom’s decision) our first wedding in San Francisco. The chocolates were from Candinas chocolatier in Verona, Wisconsin. They’re delicious subtle chocolates – the kind of chocolates that disappear too quickly and you wonder, “did I really eat all of those?” And, yes, you did – every delicious treasure.
Lesbian Couple Hopes Third ‘I Do’ Proves Charm is an NPR All Things Considered story about me and Moya. We’re so thrilled and overjoyed that we can, after 11 years as a couple, marry each other in the state and city where we live here in California. It overwhelms me with giddy happy joy!
Categories: civic center · civil rights · happiness · marriage · poetry · prop 8 · san francisco
Tagged: california, candinas, chocolates, marriage, npr
