In this poem from his brand new book, award-winning poet Stephen Mills offers a stirring commentary on same-sex marriage, token acceptance, and the politics of “normal.”
—
Your Parents Say Okay
Which is better than the letter “k”
tapped into a cell phone and sent
over miles of land to your hand
here in New York. Yes, that would
be worse, if we are looking for
the bright side of things, the silver
lining, which I’m not known to do.
The okay was in person, but not
exactly the response “normal” people
expect when they tell their parents
they’re getting married. But what
do we know of normal? It was your
mother who stood in the dust of your
Midwest driveway before you left
for college, looked you in the eye,
and asked, Can’t you just be normal?
I imagine her like a Faulkner character:
tobacco-weathered skin, short dye-
damaged hair, small tight lips barely
getting the words out. Can’t you just
be normal? It’s the just like the okay
that stings and makes us laugh
because there’s nothing left to do
or say. Okay, like you said I’m going
to the store to buy toilet paper or I’m starting
a stamp collection or I’m learning to kayak.
Though those might have produced
questions: Can you also pick up milk?
Why not coins? Isn’t kayaking a lot of work?
But marriage,marriage to your boyfriend
of ten years, marriage to me,
warrants just an okay.
***
Stephen Mills’s newest poetry book A History of the Unmarried ships from Sibling Rivalry Press on September 16, 2014. Be sure to order your copy! And while you’re waiting for it to arrive, read some of the other fine pieces Stephen has published at The Good Men Project–a poem, a book review, and an article.
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