Daily Poem: A Prayer from the Queer Studies Section of the Bookstore ~ dominusdeus
A Prayer from the Queer Studies Section of the Bookstore
~ Tumblr user dominusdeus
With thanks to dominusdeus for her kind permission to share this poem.
At the bookstore
That I have been to three times so far,
I am standing in the religion section
Two aisles, one of eastern philosophy and
One of western doctrine
And I am in in the middle of the Red Sea
Its waters standing in towers on either side of me
Like a divine parting
Like a narrow path
And at the end of the row, intersecting with the English Standard Version and
Thich Nhat Hanh,
Is a bookshelf on Queer Studies and
A story about a woman who felt out of place in her own home
Because a voice from heaven told her to love everyone and
She took it literally and
She felt like an outsider in her own land
Probably like Mary did
Probably like David did
But this woman’s story isn’t found in the thin leaf pages of a holy book
So she wrote her own called
Trust
And Courage and
Every other name she wishes she had for herself
And here we are
I am in the wilderness looking towards the promised land of milk and honey and rainbows and equal rights
With Allah on my right and G-d on my left and Jesus laying open on the floor telling me
Pick up the damn book already
It’s not going to burn you
It’s not going to kill you
No one will look at you funny
And if they do
We are all here
Cheering you on
LGBTQ pride display at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan – Photo by American Booksellers Association
