January 20th, 1961

It had snowed the night before the poet stepped slowly to the stage,
the reflection of cold sun bright white over marbled lawns.
Infant words of dedication newly written were gripped in his hands,
still unfamiliar within the voice and hardly known to the heart.
In the harsh glare of the sun and snow the words began to falter,
and the attempt was soon abandoned for more familiar and hallowed ground.
An older verse known without the need for sight now obscured
was as a gift given outright from deeper within than memory.
With ease and command won over a generation of distinction,
old words were made new again.

I listened to the recounting of that day forty five years ago,
the radio half heard as I drifted through thoughts of rain.
Implication of skill and memory beyond the superhuman suffused
the account evoking modern age heroes slaying fell beasts with words.
Brilliant qualities surely did waft through the crisp air in profusion,
but they merely masqueraded for one virtue poised far above the rest.
It was love moved his memory when old eyes could no longer see,
memory etched and exalted making beloved words fall free.
Love for words once written remembered,
love for an art a life time devoted.

Heroic is a word often cheaply bestowed today,
along with love bandied about like childrens' dispensable toys.
In reality one leads to the other, intertwined in their meaning
with depth beyond describing words, beyond poetry and song.
Perhaps we too could recite on those things that we love most dearly;
the shape of a face, the turn of a tune, the moon and luminous eyes.
All become clear again when moved by deep devotion,
or when the cool sun in our eyes makes poets of us all.

Spreading Taint

For all you spreaders of taint out there, first click here, then choose the video clip titled "Level of Taint". You will not regret it.

We are Family, focus on us.

On my way home from work tonight I heard a quick sound bite from the NPR host that disturbed me. Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, WA, has announced that a nationwide boycott of Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard will begin this Thursday, in response to both company's support of a gay rights bill currently before the Washington State Legislature. As I understand it, the bill would provide job and housing protection for all sexual minorities in the state. It has also been introduced every year for the past 30 years here in Washington, and has lost every time.

For those who don't know the story, the bill was defeated last year by one vote in the State Senate, after Hutcherson threatened Microsoft with a boycott and they pulled their support for the bill. That prompted the last wavering state senator to change his vote from yes to no, and the bill was dead for another year. The outcry at Microsoft was swift and loud, not unlike the recent fiasco with Ford Motor Company, and Microsoft back peddled and said they would support the bill if it arose again. Perhaps the most telling article about this event is from the Focus on the Family website. While I hate to even link to them, the article illuminates their insanity far better than I could ever do. Read and do not throw things at your screen, it will only hurt you and not them.

So here we are again, the bill is working its way through the legislature for yet another year, and the Ken Hutchersons of the world are starting to come out of the closet. The rhetoric is not worth repeating here, and there are plenty of places to read exactly what is going on out there, but I do want to repeat one thing that Dr. Hutcherson has said. He repeatedly claims that companies like Microsoft "underestimate the power of the American Christian public", and seems quite convinced that their boycott will do enough harm to these companies that they will change their positions.

First of all, I know a lot of gays (many of them work for Microsoft) and they own TONS of Microsoft and Microsoft related products. TONS. I also know a lot of Christians, and they do not hold a cross to the consumer electronics consumption of the homos. We can't get enough of the shit, it is our crack if your not on crack. I know I certainly can't get enough. Microsoft that is, not crack. Do not read too much into that statement, dirty minded little..... And we have large disposable incomes, because we can't breed and couples command two male salaries (the lesbians do too since they're usually more man than we are). So if we're looking for one-up-manship on amarket place power basis, I think the homos and their supporters win.

But more important than this slightly silly observation is the fact that Ken is just flat wrong. We DON'T underestimate the Christian Right's power, we understand that they have gotten all sorts of crazy things done because they threaten people behind closed doors and, until recently, not many people said anything in protest. But the Ford case has proved that we gays have a strong voice too, made all the stronger by the majority of the American public who support us and are tired of the hate mongering coming out of the religious right.

Dr. Hutcherson so clearly overestimates himself and his tribe of Christian Crusaders. I am actually looking forward to him hopefully making as much noise as humanly possible, drawing as much attention to this debate as can be drawn, and watching him go down in flames as this bill finally passes. I want him to rant and rave after the fact about the moral decline of this country, about how it's going to Hell in a Tasteful Designer Clutch, and witness everyone laugh a little bit at how silly he looks and turn away and ignore him. Let him stew in his own hateful juices. Perhaps he will leave us all alone after a good, sound, and righteous defeat.

To that end, anyone who can write to Microsoft and/or Hewlett-Packard, or your State Senator here in Washington to make sure they know we have a voice too. Seeing as one Senator has already said he will reverse his no vote from last year to a yes this year, things are looking good for the passing of this bill. After 30 years it will be about time.