THE PISTOL

It was a fiercesome fifteen inch long, three pound weapon.--Bill Kurtis, narrator, American Justice: Matthew Shepard: Death in the High

Desert

coldhardtough

solidsteeledrobust

hammeredloadedtriggered

half-cockedballisticdeadly

OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD. Copyright © 2012 by Lesléa Newman. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

THE GUN

He knows before we begin that I’m expensive.The best is always more, right?He flaunts experience, but I sense he’s apprehensive.Hopefully I can calm down his fear in the night.

His hand wraps tightly around my frameAs he tests to see if we’re a perfect fit.he moves me this way and that like it were a game,But I know right away that I have him and he will commit.

I know he can feel my power from withinBy his sweat accumulating on my metal base.The only way this combination can end is in sin,And in his inevitable disgrace.

Silly man, don’t you know how bad this will end?Even if your only intention for me is to defend.

Sonnet by Aidan McCourt from Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman, Before, During, After

SCARED TO DEATH

After they hustled me into their truckAfter they hustled me out of their truckAfter they called me those horrible namesAfter they laughed and spit in my faceAfter they beat me and beat me and beat meAfter they bound my hands to the fenceAfter they roared away in their truckAfter they finally left me aloneAfter a night that lasted foreverAfter the sun rose and shone in my eyesAfter a biker stumbled upon meAfter an ambulance took me awayAfter my body was hooked to machinesAfter my family sobbed at my sideAfter my photo was shown on the newsAfter the vigils were held in my nameAn angel appeared with her wings open wideAnd I wasn’t afraid anymore

OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD. Copyright © 2012 by Lesléa Newman. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

UNTITLED

I was gayThey told me it was okayThey lured me outside to beat meThen they had the courtesy to leave me.

The feel satisfaction, they should feel guilt

They tied me to a barbed wire fenceIn the middle of nowhere, where the air was dense.I was bleeding and achingAll I could hear was loud echoing.All I could feel were my veins,In my body, they would burst into flames.

The feel satisfaction, they should feel guilt.

18 hours later, a biker stoppedHer bike dropped.She looked in disgustHer face: full of unjust.At first she thought I was a Halloween decorationThe next thing I hear are enginesThen beaming sirens and hornsBoy, was I torn.

They feel satisfaction, they should feel guilt.

I was rushed to the hospital.I was in a coma for 5 days,Then I died with their satisfaction.

(high school student poem)

“I have always felt like being gay is a choice as opposed to naturally being straight but I seem to be having a change of mind. I am beginning to understand that being gay is not all about a sexual preference . I’m seeing that there are emotions and matters of the heart involved. Even though I have a few GLB’s in my family it’s not something we would discuss openly. It has been more like if that’s what you like to do it’s your business but seeing this documentary along with class readings has made me more aware of the importance of people’s relationships who are close to me and how they are regarded by others.”

(Student response to OCTOBER MOURNING and THE LARAMIE PROJECT)