San Francisco - 1981 Poem by Efren Petalver Carranza

My ignorance glittered like gold to whose eyes
Were larger than their mouth could speak;
Gesture of unspoken words melted me like ice,
The bar was such my place to be the freak.

Site of no expectation, liaison of men to men,
But how could they believe me then;
At the entrance, where I knew not, I walked in
With a man who happened to be a cousin.

Pride dissolved my color which I could not change,
But my nativity has pleaded for my innocence,
This language that didn’t come with my existence
Taught me no words to reason for my defense;

Of such question, I didn’t understand such a word,
That embarrassed me for my name is not Gay,
Strange as I sounded, I came here without a clue,
And who was I to disrespect to each own virtue.

I, therefore, challenged the night for what it offered,
Alcoholic beverages I learned to consume;
They said I disobeyed the teachings of our Dear Lord,
If these were sins, I am only human not a saint!