01-01-2011, 05:21 PM
The poem was inspired by a story my dad once took peculiar glee in telling me about how homosexuals were burned at the stake years ago; I think I'd asked him where the term "faggot" originated, and he told me it was used to denote sticks of wood, which sometimes were used in the torching of gays.
Thank you for your kind words and feedback, Billy; I know what you mean about the third stanza. When I wrote this months ago I thought it was rather clunky, but couldn't think how to change it. Also true about Abraham's son - the story was meant as a positive affirmation of love, whereas this is about punishment - but again, I can't really think of an alternative line. I might give it some more consideration though.
Thank you for your kind words and feedback, Billy; I know what you mean about the third stanza. When I wrote this months ago I thought it was rather clunky, but couldn't think how to change it. Also true about Abraham's son - the story was meant as a positive affirmation of love, whereas this is about punishment - but again, I can't really think of an alternative line. I might give it some more consideration though.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe