From “As My English Class Debates the Legality of Gay Marriage I Daydream of the Boy I am Beginning to Fall in Love With” by torrin a. greathouse

From "As My English Class Debates the Legality of Gay Marriage I Daydream of the Boy I am Beginning to Fall in Love With"
after George Abraham
by torrin a. greathouse

Still, he calls me boy & half-buried. My name,
my body, always center stage, the subject of debate;
this is not a metaphor—though I wish it was.

Sometimes I pick a poem because of its message/story. Other times, it’s because the style. When it comes to “As My English Class Debates the Legality of Gay Marriage I Daydream of the Boy I am Beginning to Fall in Love With” by torrin a. greathouse, it’s both.

I am rusty with my poetic styles as I only write free-verse and prose poems, so forgive me if I’m wrong. The way greathouse uses a villanelle/modern pantoum hybrid just inspires me to write one of my own (or something similar). It does remind me that I do stick within my (writing) comfort zones, a habit I am hoping to break from.

Her poem (and please forgive and correct me if I am misgendering the author, I did my best research on other bios) plays within the realms of sexuality and gender, something that is still (sadly) a heated debate topic.

To read the poem in full, visit Poets.org.