Heaven’s crossing guards
Demand you do not cross

Yet, the begotten son
Paid the ticket’s cost.

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William Soule is a Filipino-American poet from the northern regions of Utah. His works have appeared in Read This Magazine, elimae, Tattoo Highway, and the delinquent, among others.

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6 Responses to “GAYWALKING • by William Soule”

1. David M Pitchford Says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 7:23 am

   very intriguing use of chiasmus. I’m very curious: why break this into couplets?
   And not to broach that subject, or decorate it in any manner . . . but those particular crossing guards, the demanding and intolerant ones, might just be the enemy in disguise. Which is to say: this poem sparked some thought, thus is thought-provoking, and that is certainly a laudible and highly desireable quality to have in a poem.
   David M Pitchford

2. William Soule Says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 1:27 pm

   Thanks for the comment, David.

   I split the poem into couplets mostly because I liked the aesthetic of the poem better that way. I tried having just one quatrain, but it just didn’t work for me visually. Perhaps it was just necessary for me to separate the two subjects in the poem, the crossing guards and the begotten son, to help denote how the beliefs they guard are separating them from the deity they are “protecting”!

   Or maybe it’s all just simply aesthetics, hahaha…

3. Nicholas Says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

   Well done, William.

   Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

   And everyone is welcome at this table–regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, age, or sexual orientation. (The poem’s strength, incidentally, is that it says as much in fewer words.)

4. Oonah V Joslin Says:
   November 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am

   I so agree with Nicholas. A feast of thought in so few bites. Thank you for sharing it, William and a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it.

5. Steve Goble Says:
   November 27th, 2008 at 10:57 pm

   Concise, to-the-point, thought-provoking, incisive … all good things.

6. Erin Says:
   December 3rd, 2008 at 8:49 am

   I love it when a poem makes me think.

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