POETRY
“Poetry can safeguard the spirit in times of war and plague and societal strife. It has the power to transcend and to create a communal voice, a sense of universal understanding.”
- Walter Holland, A Poetry of Crisis, A Poetry of Witness -
The truth is a form of radical resistance
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Facts validating facts are a form of heady
resistance. These ward off insinuation and
the strange deflections that occur by sewing
disinformation with a thick contagion of
doubt, accusations, provocation and the whole
assault on reality. Let’s face it, honesty has been
the saintly gold-standard: Joan of Arc was burned
at the stake for allegiance to her God, and Galileo
imprisoned for obedience to Reason and
the primacy of the Sun. The actions of hearsay,
gossip, and slander, are the odious supporters
of lies. Supposed conspiracies, revisionist zealotry
from Stalin to Mao; all to propel the despotic
dictates, the rat-a-tat-tat of extermination,
genocidal purging, and human contempt. But
the wellspring of Truth runs deep, its aquifers
sate each dried and thirsting mind, transforming
the most recalcitrant into a fruitful knowing.
A Journal of the Plague Years
I remember dancing in July on the banks of the Hudson in the City,
the way some of us, innocent then, reported the rumors
we had heard. I remember you, a doctor; discussing your work
on the wards of San Francisco and the way we worried about
our friends and the way you stood in the elevator
pushing an i.v. stand, not really speaking—the calls
at night and the endless plans to move from the city and the fevers
you had and the pills by your bed and the vigil I kept until
you died. I remember the party for your birthday, the way
you wore a floral-print shirt, an amused smile on your thin
face, the flash of my camera filling the room, sudden,
startling even now. Then Scott fell ill soon after and Raymond
was said to have disappeared, no word of funeral or forwarding
address, just unanswered calls to his mother—the never knowing
if he had died and the way I watched Robert stare at the panel they’d
made for Kyle—the way we stood astonished in a room spread full
of names, the fabric of the quilt unfurled, silk-like, brilliant.
Some more featured published poems
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Excerpt from "Poppers and Sweat"
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"9 Muses," Mykonos; The Shower At Night;
Santorini, 1997; Big Sur
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Published Poems
April, 2024. "Conservation and Survival." Impossible Archetype. Issue 15, p. 49.
April, 2024. "Cluster, Terzan 2." "Beyond Words Magazine." Issue 46. p. 42. online and print copy.
Fall, 2023. "Eviction," "Queer Art." Cape Cod Poetry Review. Vol. IX. Issue 9. p. 41.
August 28, 2023. "Maine Light: for Howard." Impossible Archetype. Issue 14, p. 24.
May, 2021. "Poland." "Geographies of Justice." About Place Journal. Vol. VI, Issue III.
March, 29, 2021. "The Merchant of Grief" A&U: America's AIDS Magazine. Positively Literary. Online.
March 10, 2021. "Plague Years." A&U: America's AIDS Magazine. Positively Literary. Online.
February, 2021. "Proust Redux," "For Luis Nunez,""My Life in Fashion (As it Were),""The Doctor," "Ode to Dawn Wells." Exquisite Pandemic .
December, 2020. "A Meditation Reaching 67." Exquisite Pandemic.
December, 2020. "What it is to Be a Talker to Ghosts?" HIV Here and Now: Poems for AIDS Awareness Month, December 3, 2020.
November 2020. "Three Loves," "Pulse," "Gay New York." Cutbank Literary Journal. All Accounts & Mixtures Feature.
October, 2020. "Bar on 52nd," "1619, The White Lion, Point Comfort, Va." About Place Journal. Vol. VI. Issue II.
June, 2020. "Halston." "Egyptian." Mollyhouse. Issue One. Edited by Raymond Luczak. Squares & Rebels, Minneapolis, MN.
Winter, February, 2020. "Symphony." The Decadent Review.
Winter 2019/20. "For William Matthews." Poetrybay.
December, 2019. "Not someone that I knew." "Hospital." A Day Without Art: 30th Anniversary Special Edition, December 1, 2019. Pandemonium Press.
September, 2019. "Midnight Cowboy, X Rating." ImageOutWrite. Vol. 8.
Summer, 2019. "Fanning the Flames." RFD: Direct Action/Stonewall 50. Vol. 45, No. 4, Issue 178.
Spring, 2019. "Kickline." "Sylvia Rivera at the Docks." Stonewall's Legacy: A Poetry Anthology. Local Gems Press.
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Spring, 2019. "Breaking the Spell (for Yves Lubin, aka Assotto Saint 1957-1994),""For Justin Chin (1969-2015)," "Rue de Seurs (after Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933)." Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman. Squares & Rebels, Minneapolis.
Fall, 2019. "For Doris Day." Impossible Archetype: A Journal of LGBTQ + POETRY. Issue 6.
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January, 2019. "Cryptocracy." What Rough Beast. Indolent Books. Poem for January 24,2019.
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January, 2019. "What Say You?" What Rough Beast. Indolent Books. Poem for July 25, 2018.
January, 2019. "Dismemberment." What Rough Beast. Indolent Books. Poem for July 18, 2018.
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January, 2019. "Taking Cover." What Rough Beast. Indolent Books. Poem for July 11, 2018.
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October, 2018. "Dybbuks." What Rough Beast. Indolent Books. October 31,2018.
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October, 2018. "The truth is a form of resistance." What Rough Beast. Indolent Books.
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Summer, 2018. "Calle Pelayo." Poem. Chelsea Station Magazine.
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Winter, 2018. "The Shore," "The Chinese Pillows." Cimarron Review. Issue 202.
May, 2017. "Imagine My Body." Poem. The Good Men Project. Read here.
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May, 2017. "Hermit Cake." Poem. About Place Journal. Vol.IV. Issue III. Read here.
January, 2017. "The Ship of State." Poem. Transition: Poems in the Aftermath. Indolent Books. Read here.
March, 2015. “Camden.” Poem. Chelsea Station Magazine. Read here.
March, 2014. “The Boy in the Middle.” Poem. Chelsea Station Magazine. Read here.
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March, 2014. "Approaching Sixty" Chelsea Station Magazine. Read here.
March, 2014. “Physique.” Poem. Chelsea Station Magazine. Read here.
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March, 2011. "Swimming." Poem. COME HEAR! No. 5.
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Spring, 2010. "the walkways." Poem. Mary: A Literary Quarterly for Homosexuals.
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Winter, 2008. “The Beat Hotel.” Poem. Van Gogh’s Ear. Details.
Summer, 2007. Windy City Times: Annual Literary Supplement. Poem: ”Did You Know?” Read here.
Fall, 2005. BLOOM. Vol.2, No.2. Poem: “Freud’s Trunk.”
Spring, 2005. Cream City Review. Vol. 29.2. Poem: “World AIDS Day, 2003.”
Spring, 2005. Redivider. Vol 2, Issue 2. Poem: “Three Reality Shows.” p. 49.
Summer, 2005. Apalachee Review. #55. Poem. “The Architecture of Living.”p.33.
Fall, 2004. Pegasus. Poem. “Sammy Davis.”
Fall, 2004. The Antioch Review. Vol. 62, No. 4. Poem. “Why I Am Not in the Ice Capades.”
2004. Rhino. Poem: “Ed White.”
Fall, 2004. Chiron Review. Poems: “For Alan Dugan and Edward Field,” “Eileen at Fifty,” “Patrick and Lynn.”
April 18-24, 2002. Provincetown Magazine. Vol. 25. Issue #3. Poems: “Spring in New York,” “Mount Fuji.” p. 30.
April, 2022. Lambda Book Report. "Two Poems from Transatlantic by Walter Holland," ("Sunday Morning, Fire
Island, for H.F." and "From "A La Recherché" : "Poppers and Sweat, part 20") p. 10.
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January-February, 2002. The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. Vol. VIII, No. 6. Poetry. “Steven at 50.” p. 44.
Summer, 2001. Bay Windows. Poetry. “Von Gloeden”
Spring, 2001. The William and Mary Review. Vol. 39. Poetry. “Mount Fuji.”
Spring, 2001. Barrow Street. Poetry. “The Visible Man.”
April 2001. Unimagineable Grief, Unexpected Joy: AIDS in Poetry. The Body.com. Poetry. "Prescriptions." p. 35, Read here.
August, 2000. Bay Windows. Vol.18, No. 34. Poetry. “Boys at Play.” p. 11.
December, 1999. Bay Windows. Vol. 17, No. 50. Poetry. “Atavan.” P. 11.
September, 1999. Body Positive. Vol. XII. No. 9. Poetry. “The Drag Performance.”p. 14.
September, 1999. Provincetown Magazine. Vol. 18. No. 26. Poetry. “Mount Fuji,” “Smith Mountain, 1969,” and “Pinned.” P. 34.
Summer, 1999. The James White Review. Vol. 16. No. 3. Poetry.“The International,” and “Chartres.” p. 41.
Fall, 1998. Barrow Street. Vol. 1. No. 1. Poetry. “Boulevard Haussmann.” p. 41.
July, 1998. Bay Windows. Vol. 16, No. 32. Poetry. “First Tea.” p.34.
July, 1998. Body Positive. Vol. XI, No. 7. Poetry. “Dinner, Ulster County 1995.” p. 28.
Spring, 1998. "9 Muses," "Mykonos," "The Shower at Night," "Santorini, 1997," and "Big Sur." The Archive. Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.
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October 16, 1997. Bay Windows. Vol. 15, No. 43. Poetry. “The Wrinkle Bar.” p. 39.
September 11, 1997. Bay Windows. Vol.15, No.38. Poetry. “Reprieve.” p. 45.
August 7-August 13,1997. Bay Windows. Vol.15,No.33. Poetry. “Thanksgiving,” p. 30.
Spring/Summer, 1997. The James White Review. Issue 52, Vol.14, no.2. Poetry. “The Tar Pits, L.A.” p.11.
Spring,1997. The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review. Vol. IV, No.2. Poetry. “Paul.” p.42.
July 25 - July 31,1996. Bay Windows. Vol.14, No. 31. Poetry. “Desert Palms.”
Fall, 1996. The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review. Vol. III, No. 4. Poetry. “The Unveiling (For Hennie Frey).” p.21.
Summer, 1996. The James White Review. Issue 48 (vol.13, no. 3). Poetry. “Julius’ 1980.”
March, 1996. Men’s Style magazine. Poetry: “Sheet Lightning,”p.92.
Spring/ Summer, 1995. The James White Review. Vol.12/No.2.Poetry: “Lisbon, Oct.1994,” “For Stan Leventhal,” pp.16-17.
Spring,1994. Found Object. Issue 3. Poems: “Mornings After Sargent,” “The Lost Diva,” “At the Morning Party,”pp. 61-63.
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​Fall, 1994. The James White Review. Vol.11/No.5. Prose: “Yves Lubin -- a.k.a. Assotto Saint: A Memorial,” p.12; Poem: “Examining Rooms,” p.16.
April 22, 1993. Bay Windows. Poem. “Gay Rights March, 1987.”p.25.
September/October, 1992. Art and Understanding: The International Magazine of Literature & Art About AIDS. Vol. 1, No. 5. , Albany, N.Y.. Poems included: “Easter in Washington,” “The Road to Emmaus,” “Stephen's Illness,” “Journal of the Plague Years,” and “The NAMES Project, San Francisco 1989,” p.16.
August, 1987. Christopher Street magazine. N.Y., N.Y. Vol. 10, No. 5, Issue 113. “Sunday Morning, New York 1987,” p.58.
Spring, 1982. Prism. (Lynchburg, Virginia: Lynchburg College) Vol. XLV, No. 1. Selected Poetry: “To Franz Wiederkind,” “Anatomy Lesson,” “For Annie Dillard,” “Poems for Marsden Hartley,” “Beat,” “For Bruce,” “In Memory of Viet Nam,” “Sometimes I Put on My Beach Sunglasses,” “Parable, “For Georgia O'Keefe,” “Passage,” “Spin,” “Nova,” and “Just Before Autumn” pp.1,11,12,18,21,22,25,44,45,52, 59,67,69 respectively.
Fall, 1982. The Piedmont Literary Review. (Danville, Va.). Vol. VII, Issue No. IV, 1982. “For Annie Dillard,”p.1.
Fall, 1982. The Literary Review. (Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, N.J.). Vol. 26, No. 1. “For Franz Kline,” p.119, “For Georgia O'Keefe,” p.120, and “Poems for Marsden Hartley,” p.121.
1982. Phoebe, The George Mason Review. (George Mason University: Fairfax, Va.). Vol. 11, No. 2&3, “Nova,” p.44, and “Anatomy Lesson,” p.45.