A POETIC MONOLOGUE

Romeo, romeo
wherefore art thou Romeo
Why are you Romeo?
Why must I be attracted to Romeo?
Was it God that made me this way?
The Christians will scoff
and they will judge
and they will say
“It's a choice that you yourself make”

Is this what you believe?
That every struggle I go through,
every ignored prayer I've ever prayed,
every tear I cried,
was all happening by my own choice?
You would dare to sit there
and hold me in judgement
and tell me that none of my feelings are real?

And you tell me that I have a choice to make,
that I can choose life or choose death.
Choose who you will follow!
As for you and your house,
you will serve the LORD.
And I came to the conclusion
that's you're absolutely right.
I have a choice to make,
and here is what I have decided:

I choose life.
Life lived how I want to live it!
Not dictated by someone else's morals
handed down to them by some
ancient blood god.
No, this is life as I choose it!

A life of loving someone
until you feel like they are a part of you.
A life of selflessness
in that you would die just to save them,
A life of laughter,
of tears,
of fights,
of make ups
and tender moments.
Is that really all that different
from what you have?

I choose to break out of the mental *******
that you programmed into me
throughout my entire life.
I choose to believe that our Creator
would not give us the ability to love like that
and then punish us eternally for doing it.
I choose to break free of fear
of stigmas and prejudices and ideas
that make no logical sense.

So you asked me my choice,
and now you have it.
Ostracize me!
Label me!
Gossip about how perverted I am
among the other church hens!
Your ******* will no longer hold me back.
Your scare tactics and your unreasonable hatred
will only add fuel to the fire of the rage
that you yourselves have kindled.
Perhaps you could even say
that my anger is fueled by the hell fires
that will one day consume me.

There should be no shame in loving Romeo.
As Juliet said as she stood there,
her love far below,
“Deny thy father and refuse thy name, 
Or if thy wiltnot,be but sworn my love, 
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.”
Montegue and Capulet,
their love forbidden.
Their families against them.
And one said to the other
“Forsake those who oppose us to be with me.
Or if you will not forsake anyone,
then I will forsake those who discourage me.
To be with you.

That my Christian family will ostracize me
when they find out
does not bother me.
That many friends who are Christians
will suddenly have no time for me
does not bother me.
What bothers me is that you could be so cold
while claiming to have the love of God
that you would treat people this way.
Where's your compassion?
Where's your mercy?
God commanded you
to have those things too.
I guess picking cherries
doesn't just happen in orchards.

I wish I had a voice.
I wish I was someone that people listened to.
I would tell people to love without question
and NEVER
let anyone
tell you who you can love.
Stand up and be proud,
and proud of the ones who love you so much.
Grab life by the *****,
if you'll pardon the expression,
and stand up for what matters to you.
Show those who oppose you
that you love this person so much
that you would gladly forsake being a Montague
to be with them.
And that they would happily leave behind the Capulets
just for an opportunity to hold hands with you.

That I found someone
I would spend the rest of my life with
should be a happy moment for them.
That they'd turn it into such a moment of sadness
is heartbreaking beyond words to express.
Oh I'm not a member of your family anymore?
Oh I should lose your phone number?
Well played, Christian brothers and sisters.
Well played.
But I will not be discouraged.
I will not be swayed.
Must I forsake the Capulets to be with my love?
Fine.
So be it.

But let it be known now
that I will not be silent.
I will not cry off until
injustice has been broken
and humanity's darker side
falls into a dark grave
dug with it's own ignorance and hatred.
Until every person is free under the law
until every voice raised against us
finally falls silent.

Equal love, equal rights.
Peace, brothers and sisters.

As a child I always thought
My mother suffered from brain rot.
She told me I was making plots
to eat her up when I was not.
CONCLUSION...
Mirror, mirror on the wall
I ate my mother bones and all.

Lady lent down frost and silver moonbeams,
made my mind green, call it lost.
Call and ask if I'm thankful, all is lost,
lady found my metal core where she hides away.

I might have loved her, but I justly can't say,
when a man is far from home it is not quite his tomb.
Remind me of the liquid earth, not of the cars,
then shall my own half-moon rise for one night,
over the dunes.

Come morning,
when darkness lifts
its veil of mourning,
the warm sun gifts
her day to praise
with sweet refrain
on a grassy grave
in the mountains.

r ~ 5/10/14

I've got my Rip Van Winkle on
I've got my dreams all packed
Now all that is need be
A shady spot to lay my head

One that is unmoving
That will be around for years
When roaming the halls of slumber
Time is the first thing that is missed

I sit back as I relax
With a good book in hand
I commence to yawning hard
Enter stage left...Sandman

I've got my Rip Van Winkle on
The rest is history
I'll see you all around sometime
But only in my dreams

I know a man
Who throws arrows at the moon
He's often been curious
As to what it would do
If one of them hit
And stuck in the eye
Would the moon then
To Love be blind

I know a man*
Who sails the ocean blue
In a paddle boat
That has room for two
He paddles that boat
From shore to shore
In search of the love
That he has no more

I know a man
Who would love to fly
From the sadness he feels
Into another life
If he could get off the ground
Then he would be free
If you must know the truth
*In all actuality... that man is me

Why this day of all days
Was the Wizard out of town
When Dorthy and her three friends
Decided to roll around

They came in search of wisdom
And asked for my advice
My only hope in all of this
Is that I steered them right

To the Tin Man I told him
That he already has a heart
That it's made from pure gold
And shines as bright as a star

He may not always feel
It beating inside of his chest
But you can see in his love for others
That it's in there none the less

And the Cowardly Lion
To him I kindly said
It takes tons of courage these days
To even get out of bed

And when it is you fall and you will
Pick yourself right back up
That's the kind of courage
That I'm speaking of

Then came time for the Scarecrow
Who felt the need for a brain
So I told him that intelligence
Does not always a brain make

It might help solve some problems
But does not always think
If you want true wisdom
Take that from off the street

Then there was sweet Dorthy
Who in truth felt all alone
Needing herself a place
That she could call a home

I told her to have courage
And follow through with her heart
And if she truly thinks about it
Home is right where you are

My new friends they all thanked me
And went along their merry way
My only hope is I did a good enough job
Of playing Wizard that day

“Jesus take the wheel!” she cried
as her car did spin.
She crashed into a mighty tree
and her ribcage smashed in.

As she stood at heaven's gate
and asked why she was dead
Jesus shook his head and asked
if she'd flunked driver's ed.

She told him that she had not
and he said “Yeah you did.
Otherwise you would have known
to turn into a skid.”