Written in 1975, and hidden away for 37 years. At that time there was no avenue for anything that referred to same sex love. It was written in a loose iambic pentameter, octave rhyme, as a form of cloaking the subject matter. The poem was created after the fact, over pot and booze, and was a catharsis. I created it for an English Literature project. The Professor, Dr. W. read it, gave it a brief moment of verbal disgusted review. I never even submitted it for the grade.
It is a story poem of disaster on a Navy ship, and the display of spiritual love of one man for another.
It is not sexually erotic. It was an awakening to me of an entire "hidden" society, I didn't know existed. The political implications were swept away, and the defiance was real.
It is being told by myself. It is not my story, I still tear up thinking about it. It is what I saw.
After reading this, I realize I keep calling "it" IT. For me, it has taken on a living existence, like a tumor that won't go away. I am old now, and have moved many times in my life. It has stayed with me through the years and I want people to finally know. - ZERO
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