Portraits of a Community

DYKE
is a bright green word
always upper-case
serrated but not jagged.
you can curl it into your palm
if you do it slowly.

LESBIAN
is blue and purple, lavender flowers,
lei around the necks of dancing hippies.
happily in script, daring in boldface,
rolling off the tongue and into cunt.

Faggot.
blue like a new suit when i address it to you,
red and scabbed when it's hurled like a broken glass bottle from a passing car window.

Homosexual:
clinical and gray.
an identity with a lab coat;
it allows you to keep your distance.

queer
fits in lowercase,
just like me.
it's a nice blend of cools,
a mix on the palette.
the curved cue moderates the harsh /k/
and the soft of the /ɹ/ cradles the ending.
i belong here.
cushion me in the comfort of an enveloping word.

bisexual
naughty and rough
orange, red and sex
yellow highlights
high-contrast
hairdresser gone wrong.

Gay
flies
handpainted signs
and rainbow banners.
sure and sturdy, established and proud,
this is our stone wall
and a fortress not to hide behind, but to fight from.