Enjoy Joy

Enjoy Joy
7 March 2016

I have joy, joy, joy in the morning.
It makes me sing, sing, sing my heart out.
I’m telling you all of this as a warning
Because that’s the way my days start out.
I just love feeling fine.
In the morning, I have joy
And true happiness is mine.
Poetry and songs, I employ
To express these strong feelings.
I savor the sense of accomplishment
As I go thru the day’s dealings
And handle them without embellishment.
I’m telling you all of this as a warning
Because that’s the way my days start out.
I have joy, joy, joy in the morning.
It makes me sing, sing, sing my heart out.

No Fooling, Final Ruling

No Fooling, Final Ruling
27 June 2015

Any lesbian or queer fairy
Has a legal right to marry.
This bitter debate hasn’t cooled,
But the Supreme Court has ruled.
We get to count as people, too;
And merit just the same as you.
To me it seems that no one boasts,
Only rejoices in their online posts.
The affirmed sense of pride
And worthiness I have inside
Heightens the way that I feel
To make my love seem more real.

My Monticello Man

Inspired by Kenneth Adams & Kik Grant.


My Monticello Man
9 June 2015

Second only to loving me,
He cherishes his family.
He shows how much he cares
By the things he shares.
Holding on to his clan,
That’s my Monticello man.

Some promises are pressured,
But he always keeps his word.
His words are plain and sincere.
He’s determined to hang in there,
Finishing what he began.
That’s my Monticello man.

Manipulation is for the birds,
He was raised with high standards.
He’s hard working and reliable.
His integrity’s undeniable.
Doing the best that he can,
That’s my Monticello man.

While displaying innocence
He reacts with patience.
Mostly following society’s views,
He keeps traditions and values.
A cut above the common Everyman,
That’s my Monticello man.

Romancer Answer

Romancer Answer
23 May 2015

My love is like a blossom
Or a beautiful bloom.
The feeling is awesome,
Like a heady perfume.

Sadly, flowers don’t last long
And the petals quickly drop.
I hope my ardor proves to be strong,
Strong enough to come out on top.

I don’t usually give cut flowers.
Their beauty fades, goes pretty fast.
Blooms may express love’s powers,
But I want my love to go on and last.

Let my love be something that endures.
Perhaps, of a substance yet unknown
To represent my love as it matures.
Maybe I want beauty carved in stone.

Stone won’t change in my lifetime.
A statuette would only gather dust.
Should I celebrate with a rhyme?
Sure, poetry will keep my love robust.

Paradigm Shift Wedding Gift

Paradigm Shift Wedding Gift
14 April 2015

The official asked, “Do you?”
My response was, “I do,
I do promise to hold fast
As long as love shall last.”
So the long courtship ended
And anticipated marriage beckoned.
A status usually recommended,
Becoming husband and husband.
“Husband and husband,” newly coined,
Not a traditional expression.
Couples of the same sex joined,
Ending centuries of oppression.
Let’s use the occasion to celebrate
And make the party first-rate.
It’s time to join forces, cooperate
And recognize the new way to operate.

Grope With Hope

Grope With Hope
25 Nov 2013

Hello newborn, hello.
Just to let you know
Mommy loves you so.
Aye, you're such a wee one,
Learning about life's dealings.
Right now along with everyone,
We're experiencing strong feelings.
There's Mommy's concern and care,
Alternating between swearing and prayer.
Family members worry about your welfare
And all want health, fair and square.

Once on a spiritual weekend retreat
I had a rebirthing experience to embrace.
At first, I didn't recognize the feat.
It felt like I was in a very confined space
With strong, firm forces moving me about.
Then there was light, light everywhere.
No matter how I turned my head to checkout,
The brightness was around, always there.
My tiny torso filled with emotion, full bore.
That feeling was hope by the score.
Hope that I would be loved and cared for.

I like to think that every baby has hope.
Like me, hope's in every newborn's envelope.
In welcoming you infant, within our scope
There're desires in our hearts, too.
We hope you have healthy, happy years.
We want to do very well by you.
As you grow, we expect to guide your fears.
Because of how we think, our hopes will manifest
Differently for everybody. There'll be frustrations,
But we all desire an outcome that's the best
And promise to be mindful in our ministrations.

Visualization Affirmation

Visualization Affirmation

14 November 2011

Who’s that handsome dude in the mirror

With a golden earring in his ear?

Life is better this year.

Still wishing for money up to here,

But visualizing crystal clear 

Many sources, never fear.

From a product’s premier

Forging ahead in a career.

Also imagining someone dear

Who is loving and near.

Enjoying health and cheer

With many a peer

While traveling from here

Like the jet set tier.

Baby’s ABC’s

Inspired by my nephew's baby, Monson.

Baby’s ABC’s

28 October 2011

A is for applesauce that’s easy to eat.

B is for beans which for Monson’s a treat.

C is for car which he’ll drive before he’s thirty.

D is for diaper that gets changed when it’s dirty.

E is for ear to hear everything.

F is for fork to give food a fling.

G is for grandmas of which he has two

H is for house with a roof and windows, too.

I is for ice that comes out of the fridge.

J is for joke to release tension a smidge.

K is for key to unlock the house’s front door.

L is for love that can’t be bought at the store.

M is for Mommy, center of and my life’s anchor.

N is for nurse, her job, for which we thank her.

O is for oven where she does her baking.

P is for potato fries that she likes making.

Q is for quilts to snuggle under.

R is for roses that fill us with wonder.

S is for shoes, easiest to lose of all clothes.

T is for toes that Monson uses to pick his nose.

U is for umbrella to keep dry in the rain.

V is for video to watch and entertain.

W is for work where Daddy has spoken.

X is for x-rays when bones are broken.

Y is for yogurt which when frozen, you lick.

Z is for zipper to change clothes real quick.

Connecting The Dots

Connecting the Dots

I think I have been underestimating the power of sex. Let’s consider the holy trinity of love, sex and marriage. Because I’m gay until recently I only focused on putting love & marriage together. Anybody familiar with the way gay men act, knows that in the gay community frequently sex has nothing to do with emotions or commitment. Sex between men is a simple act of pleasure for pleasure’s sake. That’s where conservatives get their panties in a knot. Sex between a man and a woman takes negotiation, give a little to get a little. There’s the rub. Gays get lots of free and easy sex while for straight men it comes at a price.

The other day at work in the lunchroom I saw an older coworker holding hands with her husband. From past observations I know the woman is very religious. Then it hit me. She gets to have church and sex together. As an excommunicated gay man I had never connected religion and erotic that way before. The thought of sex with a woman doesn’t do anything for me, but the message I get from larger society is that sex with a woman feels very good. Now if you combined the emotional high of religious ecstasy with sexual ecstasy, you just couldn’t get any higher than that. Marriage frequently is a religious rite. Which puts sex under the church umbrella. Then after marriage, all societal messages and blessings are saying go for the gusto. In my life never having connected church and sex, I think I’ve been cheated.

Now let’s expand the religion-sex connection a bit. The way I understand it, suicide bombers make the sacrifice on the promise of sex in the afterlife. After all, what’s the point of having 72 virgins if you don’t get to deflower them? In Mormon theology, people are eventually resurrected with fully functioning bodies. And the faithful ones benefiting from Heavenly Father’s presence go on to become like Him, as gods themselves peopling other worlds with their own spirit children. Now just how do you suppose those spirit children come about? Could it be sex? In other words, obedient Mormons get to have sex forever; and not all with the same wife.

Maybe the way I connected love and marriage without sex can be twisted to an analogy of why straight men oppose gay marriage. Straight men, the power brokers in today’s world, having connected marriage and sex, are repulsed by the thought of marriage being represented by two men having sex. And don’t mention polyamory. They aren’t even going there. Maybe polygamy, but not polyamory.

Yes, I think I’ve been underestimating the power of sex. Life experience leads me to conclude that decisions are made emotionally then rationalized logically. Because some people can’t conceive of themselves in a same-gender marriage or polyamorous arrangement, they seek to deny those relationships to all others.