Poem

Danez Smith

Side by side

The 17-Year-Old & the Gay Bar

this gin-heavy heaven, blessed ground to think gay & mean we.
bless the fake id & the bouncer who knew
this need to be needed, to belong, to know how
a man taste full on vodka & free of sin. i know not which god to pray to.
i look to christ, i look to every mouth on the dance floor, i order
a whiskey coke, name it the blood of my new savior. he is just.
he begs me to dance, to marvel men with the
dash
of hips i brought, he deems my mouth in some stranger’s mouth necessary.
bless that man’s mouth, the song we sway sloppy to, the beat, the bridge, the length
of his hand on my thigh & back & i know not which country i am of.
i want to live on his tongue, build a home of gospel & gayety
i want to raise a city behind his teeth for all boys of choirs & closets to refuge in.
i want my new god to look at the mecca i built him & call it damn good
or maybe i’m just tipsy & free for the first time, willing to worship anything i can taste.

This poem uses the Golden Shovel form.

Danez Smith

(United States of America, )

Danez Smith was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is the author of three poetry collections, including Homie (Graywolf Press, 2020), which won the Minnesota Book Award and the Heartland Bookseller Award and was a Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the NAACP Image Award. They are also the author of Don't Call Us Dead (Graywolf Press, 2017), which was a Finalist for the Nation...