9 LGBT Poets To Know And Love

From: NewNowNext

6.

 Richard Blanco

 (b. 1968)

Identifying openly not only as a gay man, but also as an immigrant and a Cuban-American, poet Richard Blanco’s work grapples with the tension that comes with assuming identities that often run in direct conflict with one another. His verse is straightforward and honest, relying on narrative over metaphor to comment on the complicated nature of identity politics.

It is perhaps because of this focus that Blanco was chosen to serve as the inaugural poet at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. This made him the first Latino, the first immigrant and the first openly gay person to ever do so.

From “Since Unfinished”

I’ve been writing this since

the woman I slept with the night

of my father’s wake, since

my grandmother first called me

a faggot and I said nothing, since

I forgave her and my body

pressed hard against Michael

on the dance floor at Twist, since

the years spent with a martini

and men I knew I couldn’t love.