Featured Image: Laura Shannonhouse
We are gathered here today
The Masked Priest’s voice booms
To celebrate the life
Of this straight self
Though voices wail
And I open my eyes to peek
Too curious to keep them shut
And suddenly I see
A hundred lovers so beautiful
Though they weep draped in black,
Gripping odd objects
As if for some sort of comfort.
And family who don’t share my blood
But this heart of mine
Howling as if struck by lightning.
I look down upon myself and see
A formidable lacy black wedding dress
So fanciful I myself shed a tear
Though I no longer hold command
Over these cold heavy limbs.
She was a beautiful caterpillar
Though it is only through her own metamorphosis
That she may become an extraordinary butterfly.
She was kind though clueless
So deluded to her heterosexuality
She convinced herself it was only men she loved
Though her heart yearned for exquisite souls
Defying the boxes they tried to place her lovers in,
This Masked Priest declares
And the lovers wail shaking,
Each voice crashing over another,
As if their owners are afraid their words will leave them
Never to return.
She bewitched me
She loved me
She is in a better place
They shout
Yes! Yes praise the Lord she is in a better place
The Masked Priest says
And suddenly a silence warms the night air
A silence so thick
It would choke me
If there was air in these lungs.
There is nothing I could say
To ease this moment
The Masked Priest says.
So they take off their Mask
And I see my own face
Staring back at me
Only she has laugh lines,
Twinkling eyes, and rainbow makeup.
And suddenly
As if on cue
Rainbow confetti falls
Like a soothing rain
During this funeral for my straight self.