for Candice Lin
I occupied a busy street corner in Asheville,
North Carolina to bless children with bubbles that will make them queer. Not gay and lesbian, but QUEER! Bubbles of course do not have such powers,
bubbles have only the power to be bubbles, and some parents knew that and
thought the whole thing was funny and would say, “That’s cool, I will love my children
no matter what.” I took notes for the
poem.
But MOST parents were not happy about Queer
Bubbles at all, “Ooo bubbles, look at the bubbles sweet heart, look at the
pretty bubbles.” I would blow bubbles
for their little hands and say, “These bubbles will assure that your child will
grow up to be a healthy, happy, revolutionary Queer who will help rid the world
of homophobia, misogyny, racism and other forms of stupidity.” Parents pulled away nervously saying “Sorry,
sorry.” One mother abruptly yanked her
blond son’s hand, “C’mon honey ice cream, ice cream!” The boy cried, reaching for the bubbles as
she refused to look in my direction, pulling him from the queering of the
bubbles. Most parents though just said
“Sorry, I’m sorry” as they walked away.
I took notes for the poem.
The fear of queer will not dissolve with sorry, the apology is not acceptable, especially if their children grow up to be queer. Asheville purports to be a liberal, laid back city, but Queer Bubbles pulled the veil aside for a closer look. One man said, “Jesus loves you.” I said, “I don’t think so.” His face screwed up and he yelled “YES HE DOES!” Jesus loves the queers, isn’t that nice? And his angry messenger roams the street to tell us so. WE MUST INSIST that a redistribution of wealth always include The Love. How can we be there for one another? How can we be assured that everyone gets The Love? Notes from the ritual became a poem.
The fear of queer will not dissolve with sorry, the apology is not acceptable, especially if their children grow up to be queer. Asheville purports to be a liberal, laid back city, but Queer Bubbles pulled the veil aside for a closer look. One man said, “Jesus loves you.” I said, “I don’t think so.” His face screwed up and he yelled “YES HE DOES!” Jesus loves the queers, isn’t that nice? And his angry messenger roams the street to tell us so. WE MUST INSIST that a redistribution of wealth always include The Love. How can we be there for one another? How can we be assured that everyone gets The Love? Notes from the ritual became a poem.
