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More Altitude of Love

...for a special someone...     Sonnet   … no rights have I to feel a certain way, … no claim not pleading in pentameter, … no earthly grip or hope my words will sway, or trace the scope of their parameter. Like a lawyer, skirting nine tenths of the law to avoid thoughts of what I don’t possess, my sad voice still reaches out to draw belief in your heart for the love I confess. … although no claim I have to your control, … alt

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Gay Song Seven – “You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see”

. Gay Song Seven – “You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see”   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience. So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   ---  

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AC Benus in Essays

Coming Out, And " The Closet "

. Coming Out, and "The Closet" An historical review on the semantics of the terms This piece cannot be as extensive or elaborate as I would like, for I lack further resources to research the subject, however, in preparing the seventh and final screenplay for The Secret Melville series, I once again encountered the phrase "to come out" in a clear LGBT context in that author's work. I wonder if straight people are even aware of it? Aware that there is a massive current of denial

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AC Benus in Essays

A Full-Stop

Ode to the caesura. It brings our thoughts to a stop. It laps at our minds like a sop. And halts coloratura.         How glad the many millions      of notions are prevented       from finding full expression       in the boundless words of the world,      for then, once spilled on paper,      how might we ever gather them up again;       how might the bottle be re-plugged;      how might the heart be re-assembled,      if fancy-fr

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Three Poems for Colin

. for Colin   Sonnet No. 1   Your fingers inch along my shoulder blades, Caressing, releasing, gripping and spread Like dripping flame to drench me in cascades Where every part of me your hands are led.  Soothing exploration is what I feel, A student under a master's care, Whose object is loving and meant to heal, Though silent and extremely aware. But the fire in me which your caress stokes Is o

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The Amazing And Wonderful Famous-Barr

The Amazing and Wonderful Famous-Barr   As I begin posting my series of Christmas short stories and novellas set in this department store, I am struck by how paltry and sad the Wikipedia entry is for this amazing company. In an effort to improve that article, I have created this short summary, which I hope to tweak and eventually add to wiki.   My information comes from first-hand sources, primarily documents made by the company, such as employee newsletters and handbooks, an

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Gay Song Five – Bing Crosby Goes ' Gay For Pay '

Gay Song Five – Bing Crosby goes 'Gay for Pay'   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience.   So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   ---   Gay in the 2nd degree is Bing Crosby's glo

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Poetry Prompt 2 - Haiku

Here's my own attempt, as I rarely write Haiku     Nature Haiku:   A poppy amongst The bushes of rose, will bow When a chill winds blows.       Urban Haiku:   Shy dog and hydrant Stand off 'neath the noonday sky – Which one will get wet?     _

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Gay Song One – Quelle Tragédie, Lol

Gay Song One – quelle tragédie   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience.   So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   ---   My first selection is definitely Gay in the 1st Degree! We

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The Desolate

Here's a poem and my translation of it.   El Desdichado de Gérard Labrunie, ou Gérard de Nerval   Je suis le Ténébreux – le Veuf – l’Inconsolé, Le Prince d’Aquitaine à la Tour abolie: Ma seule Etoile est morte – et mon luth constellé Porte le Soleil noir de la Mélancolie.   Dans la nuit du Tombeau, Toi qui m’as consolé, Rends-moi le Pausilippe et la mer d’Italie, La fleur qui plaisait tant à mon coeur désolé, Et la treille où le Pampre à la Rose s’a

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The First Thanksgiving (And The Second, And The Third…) With A Recipe!

The First Thanksgiving (and the Second, and the Third…) by AC Benus     What Thanksgiving is Not   An amazing holiday like Thanksgiving must have an amazing history, and it does, but it's probably not the history you think.   I've seen them. We've all seen them: the articles that spring up this time of year as abundantly as roast turkey recipes. They are usually titled with holier-than-thou disdain: "First Thanksgiving had No Cranberry Sauce!" or "First Th

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Suffering

"Happiness is what we give Ourselves – Suffering is what we get From our friends and family."

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Gay Song Four – Rolling Stones

Gay Song Four – Rolling Stones   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience.   So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   ---   "I'm a lonesome schoolboy, and I just came into town" is h

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Excerpt Two From Becoming Real

Excerpt Two from Becoming Real:   Hello, all! The book club this month is featuring my collection of coming out stories, Becoming Real. I will be live to chat on the 31st, but for those of you who may not know what to expect from the work, I think I will post a few sample excepts. These are a personal sampling, and just meant to give you the flavor of the seven short stories through the lens of some of my favorite moments.   Please enjoy, and please leave comments if you have any.   Thanks

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" In The Flesh, " Homophobia And The Zombie Menace

In the Flesh, Homophobia and the 'Zombie Menace' July 13, 2013   The Setup:   What's so wrong with being Gay? In this day and age, with advances on all fronts towards the common acceptance of something that really is no big deal – equivalent to a person's height or eye color – does hatred and ignorance-based fear of 'gay as a disease' have any cultural grounding? Does it lurk in the subconscious like a repressed but recurring nightmare? I am an odd duck; I know that.

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gilding roses

Tanka: May rain falls upon Roses already in bloom – When Nature dictates Gilding Iilies, all is fair For hearts then at war with love.  

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Gay Song Two …oh Daddy…

Gay Song Two …oh daddy…   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience.   So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   --- Ed Sheeran's phenomenal live performa

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Gay Song Three – Love Betrayed

Gay Song Three – love betrayed   Note: for this series of postings, the term 'Gay Song' refers to music written to/for/by or about Gay men or women. A second category also deals with music identified as Gay because it speaks to the heart of the Gay Experience.   So to make this easier, I will call them Gay in the 1st Degree (to/for/by/about), or Gay in the 2nd Degree (like Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow).   ---   Will Young won the first ever Pop Idol television show in

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Night Blooms

. Night Blooms Haibun   Early the other morning, I couldn’t sleep anymore from all the memory-filled dreams I was having, so I took the dog outside. Standing in the garden, all the world peaceful and sweet, I saw a truly Mid-western moon – the type I grew up. Placid and nearly full, and yet hidden within the glory of its own eerie light. Moons like this remind me I have no home anymore, not with my parents now gone from the world.   5 AM, the moon playing night

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Thanksgiving and the Adhesion Among Men

. Thanksgiving and the Adhesion Among Men     @Parker Owens brought a certain song to my attention yesterday. I did a little digging on The Vacant Chair and learned a thing or two. Although the lyrics portray a Civil War family mourning the loss of a beloved son, the poem was actually written in tribute to love. Henry Stevenson Washburn was 48 years old when he met and watched 18-year-old John William Grout lead a charge and die in the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. The young lieute

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Gilbert and Sullivan Go to Washington!

I keep a personal memento of hope. In November of 2008 I went to the polls, and voted. On the ballot was the now infamous California Proposition Number 8. The language of the proposed amendment to the constitution – the founding and chief legal statement of how we the people of the state must function – said that my marriage was shit. And, that – the quality of my union – was put to a popular vote; made subject to public 'debate,' although the 'arguments' for the haters were privately-funded fro

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BBC Show - In the Flesh

Anybody watch "In the Flesh"???   It is about zombies, and two 'partially deceased' boys who get a second chance at love.   Let me know, I want to discuss it with folks!!! I really do...

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Rhyming Is Fundamental

. Rhyming is Fundamental   I'm no great Rhymin' Simon, and make lots of 'mistakes' that would cause academics to wag boney fingers at my poetry night and day, but I do know something about the basics. I thought I'd share some information and thoughts on how you can be more comfortable making your own rhymes. I'm not going to present these ideas in a 'right or wrong' method. Rules exist to be broken, but artistry means you know what you are breaking and do it deliberately.

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For Halloween

Sonnet No. 95 [October 30th, 2013 – 7:07 pm]   We are only made of matter that dies, Of bones and marrow; of skull and of brains, And every thought we had will end in sighs, As those who bury us mourn our remains. A Roman mosaic of a skeleton Shows him toasting fate with pitchers of wine – His memento mori is a ghastly grin To remind we toil under a heavy fine. But, finite as the threat hangs on our head, Our necks are blessed with freedom, and with choice, For those who have loved

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