the pestilent wind can not dampen
this new spring Saturday
sun fighting cloud
baby grape leaves, buds
time slows from the week gone
cruising we open our papers
glancing over the tastelessness
of that other world
strawberry jammed toast turns
salty with tears, the
pending summer is sucked to black
away from this horror
a world away in Casper, Wyoming
and oh so close
in the bathroom mirror we affirm
our safety, our existence (for now)
and cry in honour & fear for this new death
this kick-in-the-butt reminder
we are hated by some
they wish us dead
merely for our sexuality
“for Shepard, a 21-year-old [gay] student beaten to
death in an apparent hate crime…”
New Zealand Herald, 17-18 October 1998
p.s. Finally, over 10 years later, the US Senate passes the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
http://www.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_13628360?nclick_check=1
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