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Poetry & Prose Contributed by Charles Dean Walker This homophobic bigotry needs to die out in our community. Being a hateful bigot isn’t Christ like. To be a Christian is to try to follow Jesus’s example and teachings. Where in the Bible did it tell us to try to change people’s sexuality? Where in the Bible did it say it was alright to spew hateful rhetoric? We Christians may fail God, we may fail other believers too. But I’m not ashamed to love my Queer friends. Even in the view that they are sinners, coming to their aid from hurtful people. Is what Jesus would do. Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, Mary Magdalene was Jesus friend and follower. If we were kinder to the LGBTA, and showed we weren’t hateful, more would want to come to Christ too.
MID-JUL 2022
Contributed by Karly O’Loughlin Sadness dressed in blue A faded denim; familiar, soft Sitting on the hips with ease Pores opening and closing Opening and closing Remembering bread kneaded between fingers Flour in the cracks of a palm pressed to the counter Sadness baked in lemon and rosemary A lingering aroma; familiar, soft She is in the details Perched on the rise of lips curved around a word She is slipping through teeth Tongue flicking the corners of a thought still wet on the mouth She is volatile and rich with spices Damp velvet soul food, heavy in the gut Sadness held in the feet for many miles A drawn out ache; familiar, soft Situating in pockets of fluid with ease Eyes opening and closing Opening and closing Remembering oceans from a shell pressed to the ear Sand gathering in a froth around toes curling downward Sadness steeped under the arches A grainy memory; familiar, soft
But this hate that we let preachers preach, well, we know not what we do. Some will probably think I’m not Christian, or question how can I call myself a Christian. Because even though I don’t think the Bible was talking about two male or female lovers. I can’t sit here as a young adult Christian and not help the marginalized. Christ can come to the aid of a sex worker, I should come to the aid of homosexuals trying to love. It’s not too late for our community to become better, in fact people are trying. Homophobia will always have a place in the WORLD, but it has no place in the Kingdom of Heaven. I am a heterosexual, I am a Christian. You will not, can not shame me for spreading love to these minorities you hate. People can curse my name, but I choose to do what Jesus would truly do. To love my queer friends.
Contributed by Katherine Baker Group violence said we want peace, then peace more violence released. In confusion the truth decreased, and the old ways begun to cease. Perhaps we just waited too long, watching some things, not wise but wrong. The ways of old which once were strong, some right, some wrong, were not prolonged. The ways of now, some good, some bad, this sorrow we’ve already had. Forgot the good of old to add, another generation sad.
Contributed by Caitlin M.S. Buxbaum The fire alarm is going off at Newark International— travelers & staff glance around waiting for instructions on how & when to escape. No one changes course.
Contributed by Katherine Baker Oh Lord, I saw the earth today, and all my thoughts, I paused to weigh. Quiet and vast, this great expanse, how small, how lone, my human stance. As I view these acres of land, and seek to find of me, the am. With hand I touched the earth to skin, still there, the love which dwells in kin. Bits of wisdom, from those who were, their hopes and dreams, myself, I’m sure. Was long ago they worked this land, was here today, I held those hands.