And So We Are To Meet
A prose poem by Neph
And so we are to meet. No longer
Just a name upon the screen,
A name upon which he can build
The fantasy of his choice.
He could imagine me as being
Young and lithe and fair;
But I am not as he imagines -
Not young, not lithe, not fair.
And so we are to meet,
And he'll be face-to-face
With the man behind the name,
The real - my God! - real me.
I yearn for that one friend
With whom I can be just me -
The real me, the gay me -
And he will understand.
And he will understand because
He is like me, gay too.
And for one short hour in time
I may take off my mask.
I may take off my mask, this other 'me'
That confronts the world:
The 'me' that people think I am,
With home and wife and child.
It's not for sex - I don't want sex:
I'm not young, nor lithe, nor fair.
I just want a friend who's just like me,
Who'll hug me and understand.
And so we are to meet. Dear God,
Let him become a friend,
A friend who'll hug me close, a hug
I will cherish for evermore.
And so we are to meet.
This poem is copyright 2002 Neph, to whom comments may be sent.
