Monday, April 27, 2020

Rainbow Prayer-Beads: A Poem for a Queer Christianity Seminar



A poem for my students
inspired by the Spring 2020 syllabus
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In the little hours we share together,

There are many things left unsaid.

As the queers knock on the kingdom gates,

We remember the most vulnerable in our kin-dom.

Certainly, our bus has many stops to go,

But may we keep our fervor for equality and equity.

May we honor all those who have been erased,

All those queens and kings and monarchs of hell.

Let us shine a spotlight on abuse and corruption,

To reveal the real abominations among us,

To nurture healing not hate amidst plague,

To decolonize our hearts and our institutions.

May we write a new love song,

A fight song that speaks to fear, pain, and chaos.

When Wild Men call us into Mythopoetic Woods,

May you be guided by all our queer fathers, mothers, parents.

When queer messages and messengers arrive at your door,

May you find the strength and clarity to read them truthfully.

When disorientation and utopias leave us nowhere,

May you find companions for the ever erring adventure.

Although we may not check all the items on our lists,

May we confess the beauty of not fitting into identities.

And at times, we may hold back from our truths and desires,

But in the twilight we will sparkle for those who can see us.

So, as you travel onward to cross paths of light and night,

May a coven of queers ever be found to empower you.

And when the sun sets on each day,

May you be affirmed in your heart that you are good.

Blessings to you all,

May we find one another along the way to somewhere, nowhere, and elsewhere.


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Crip Horizons: A Poem for a Race and Disability Seminar


A poem for my students
inspired by the Spring 2020 syllabus
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In the pilgrimage to non-violence and equity,

We come face to face with crusades against our diversity.

Yet some apples fall far from the tree,

Opening new paths for our sons, daughters, and all children.

Looking ahead, we may fear that we will become ghosts or angels,

Before we reach our utopian horizons.

As the sky breaks into dirty, pynk, juicy, crazy, classic shades,

We are reminded that this will be all our America before it’s all over.

In the meanwhile, we may stand five or six feet apart,

Telling the stories of our wounds.

Praying that our beloveds,

Will one day be free of the haunted house in which we are stuck.

So too with all those in the prisons,

May they rise like phoenixes burning the industry to the ground.

One day, we will reach beyond this silent planet,

And leave behind our eugenic and colonial monsters.

On the twilight of that long night,

May a new moon announce our transformation.

As the God or goddesses of the skies look down on us,

With blessings and love instead of violence and plagues.

In the great show of our diverse humanity,

May the freaks rise to take over the market of ideas.

May we find one another on the journey there and back again,

Through the dragons of our own cruelty and mistrust.

Until we arrive home at the Cathedrals of our liberation,

Where we don’t need another ruler or fool; all of our friends are kings.

Blessings to you all,

May we find one another along the way to somewhere, nowhere, and elsewhere.

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