“So Gay” by Christopher Crawford

Christopher Crawford

SO GAY

How gay is it
for two men
to stroke
the same dog
at the same time.

What if they’re both
sitting on a sofa watching
When Harry Met Sally.

How about two men watching
the same gorgeous sunset
from the same high ridge.

And if a man daydreaming
on a bus ride finds his eyes when focus returns,
quite accidentally, on the crotch
of the man seated opposite.

How about two men riding
a bus into a gorgeous sunset
or two gorgeous men watching
a sunset in silence. How about
two men daydreaming and stroking
a gorgeous dog and the dog makes
a strange deep sound of pleasure.

What if the men are old friends.
What if they’re brothers.
What if there’s music playing.

from Rattle #35, Summer 2011

__________

Christopher Crawford: “How gay is it to write poems? I like to make people uncomfortable with my poetry; I like to make myself uncomfortable. I like to use the truth to provoke, to handle strong themes in a contemporary manner. Once the opening stanza entered my mind from wherever these things come from, the rest of the poem came without too much trouble. I pinned ‘So Gay’ to the bathroom wall of my old apartment in Ho Chi Minh City in July 2010, perhaps it’s still there.” (web)

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