by Louie Crew
He could preach about his ghetto
till his cracker bishop wept
guilt dollars into his parish coffers.
He could shout about city managers
till his people marched
affirmative action
through every municipal office.
He could narrate family history
till his boy and girl
joyfully plodded through the books
their grandparents had been denied.
He could presage his weariness
till his wife calmed him
with her care.
But because he could share with no one
the fact that he was queer,
he hitched a hose to his VW exhaust
and quietly went to heaven.
Louie Crew, 73, an Alabama native, is an emeritus professor at Rutgers. He lives in East Orange, NJ, with Ernest Clay, his husband of 36+ years. As of today, editors have published 1,970 of Crew's poems and essays. Crew has edited special issues of College English and Margins. He has written four poetry volumes Sunspots (Lotus Press, Detroit, 1976) Midnight Lessons (Samisdat, 1987), Lutibelle's Pew (Dragon Disks, 1990), and Queers! for Christ's Sake! (Dragon Disks, 2003). The University of Michigan collects Crew's papers.
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