'When i was a teenager'                               timothy r gates, 2/28/2013

When i was a teenager
Gay was happy
Straight wasn't crooked
Black and white were colours
Discipline included belts and two feet long paddles
(holes were drilled in them,
making teachers and daddy
feel their illusory prowess.)
Women and children were property
Morality was defined by a book.
Then...
"When I was a child I behaved like a child,
but when I grew up I put away immature things."
one thing, one day, one breath at a time,
borrowing from one of those books
borrowing from a twelve step program,
(Retrogression is when i fall prey
to my own bullshit,
thinking it's sweet,
while another nearly regurgitates -
like by the time you smell your own
bad breath,
others didn't need a revelation.)
Then I say,
"Next."