1980s PART ONE — I graduated high school in 1987. I am definitely a child of the 80s, though I’ve really always hated that about myself. As far back as I remember I’ve felt out of place and out of time. Like I was a generation or two too late. Among the many features ofContinue reading “The 80s – coming out bi part 7”
Category Archives: Journal
Buying Poetry
The last poetry-related journal entry I posted was about getting rid of a collection of books, and coming to terms with the ramifications of that now, decades later. One of the points was that I find myself here today, a poet with few books of poetry at hand. If you want to know a bitContinue reading “Buying Poetry”
Coming Out Bi – part 6 – Burt Reynolds
I want to find a moment in my past I can look at to say, that’s when I realized I was queer, that was the moment I knew it, and that’s when I decided to accept it. Or to fight for it. Maybe a moment someone told me not to be gay. Or a momentContinue reading “Coming Out Bi – part 6 – Burt Reynolds”
Selling Rare Books
Life seems to come in fits and starts. I doubt my experience is unusual in that regard. I seem to uncover truths, meaningful to me in certain moments of clarity, which lead me to a deeper understanding (or the illusion of a deeper understanding) of self; moments like lighthouses defining just enough of the worldContinue reading “Selling Rare Books”
Dodgeball and locker rooms – coming out bi part 5
I’m 52 for fuck’s sake, dealing with what feels like things that should have been dealt with when I was a teenager. Shame creeps in here in so many ways. Why am I late to the party, again? This is a story about coming out of the closet as a bisexual man. Coming out isn’tContinue reading “Dodgeball and locker rooms – coming out bi part 5”
Nipples – Coming out bi part 4
On Friday July 27, 1984 my family started a one-week camping trip just down the road not even ten miles away from home. It was a sort of getaway without the hassle of getting away, I suppose. I don’t know what prompted my parents to do this odd but fun little adventure. I’m pretty sureContinue reading “Nipples – Coming out bi part 4”
Freddie with the Mohawk – coming out bi part 3
The first day of 8th grade. 1983. That summer I’d been away for two weeks with my parents and little sister on a trip to Memphis TN, the first time I’d ever been farther away from home than a field trip to Ottowa once to see the Canadian capital. That was only about 100 miles.Continue reading “Freddie with the Mohawk – coming out bi part 3”
Curlers & Clips – coming out bi part 2
I was waiting for the school bus over at the elementary school. Early in the morning the buses began gathering the out of town kids, all scattered across close to a hundred square miles around my rural hometown. Eventually the buses gathered there within eyeshot of my childhood home at the elementary school, dropping theContinue reading “Curlers & Clips – coming out bi part 2”
Hi! Bi! – coming out part 1
I never thought I’d come out of the closet, because I never thought I was in one. At times as a kid I did wonder, and worry I might be gay, but it didn’t reconcile with the fact that I really liked girls. Well into adulthood I came to terms with the fact that IContinue reading “Hi! Bi! – coming out part 1”
On Reading Poems
Sometimes I’m reminded that not everybody comes to poems on their own, and that poems can be confusing without a framework of how to go about reading and enjoying them. Here’s how I’ve come to read poems: a poem is a stand of woods you’d like to walk through. Usually there is a trailhead, startContinue reading “On Reading Poems”