Friday, May 03, 2013

The Walk Home

she saw them
i saw them
at the same time

he and he walking
side by side
hands brushed

accident turned to design
fingers touched fingers
two became one

her stare became hard
her mouth set
she spat at them

she saw me see her
she pointed at them
face wrinkled with disgust

she included me in her glance
assumed that I would
be an ally to hate

i whispered to joe
his hand moved and rested
lovingly on my shoulder

sometimes
it matters
that you declare

who
you
are

where
you
stand

what
you
believe

the men having felt
the sting of her stare
the force of her hate

saw joes touch
felt our solidarity
knew they were not alone

sometimes
it matters
that you decide

enough
is
enough

8 comments:

Kris S. said...

Beautiful and so true. Sharing!

wendy said...

This brought tears to my eyes. It is so true that sometimes it is important to declare, to be known. For her, for them and for you.

Anonymous said...

Someone recently tried to recruit me to their hatred as well. I was walking into a small strip mall, and a man was walking in at the same time as I was. At the same time, a very flamboyant Trans person was walking through the parking lot. The man said to me "What the hell is that?" I said "That is someone who is very brave". He continued to natter on about it, but I just kept walking. I wanted to lay into him, but I thought I would cry if I had to say anything else.

Last night I was in Walmart, and two young men were walking hand in hand for all the world to see. Things are changing, slowly but surely. We who witness hatred have to show our disdain for it. By being quiet, we allow people to think we agree with them.

I live in a small city (Belleville ON) so seeing people who are "different" is a rare thing. Getting less rare though :)

scribe said...

good words, dave.
bravo.

Princeton Posse said...

Yeah,beautiful and touching.

Belly (Liz McLennan) said...

Such lovely words, lovely sentiment. Without words, you conveyed hope and strength.

Well done.

AkMom said...

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing!

Jayne Wales said...

Simple but powerful .