Musa Okwonga

“Everyone knows it: no one will say it”

Everyone knows it: no one will say it;
Everyone sees it; they all downplay it.
Your truth is known in your home, at the barber’s,
And at the church: and is ignored regardless.

Everyone knows that you’re gay, so their solace
is then to ensure that your truth’s not acknowledged.
Not knowing Truth is an obstinate sort
Which even from deepest denial grows forth.

Shrewd politicians slur you as harmful,
Distracting hordes while they make off with castles;
Some will preach: “You’re not what Nature intended”
(Which just means they find Nature offensive).

Some seek to make you an outcast by law,
To force you to love within shade, behind doors;
But though they will fight you with statute and clause,
The truth, and the dignity, will remain yours.