The Rhetoric of Persecution: An Essay with Quotes from John 16:2
Quoting Paul, this pastor
says he doesn’t mind
being cancelled
for declaring people
like me an abomination.
He’s ready to die,
be persecuted for this:
his right to keep me a secret,
locked up, or, if merciful,
have me corrected via therapy.
There are about two
billion
Christians in the world.
Some queer, afraid, Nigerian.
The handful of us, prey. Tell me
how
a boy kissing another boy
is persecution.
They will put you out, Jesus
said,
his eyes on mine as he spoke
in Gethsemane. O Christ,
your children have made a mess
of Love, killing in your name,
tyres around necks,
bodies aflame.
They have built Hell
in your honour, made
the gospel a horror.
Zeal, when sharper than
God, will lead to lynchings.
…in fact, the time is coming
when anyone who kills you
will think they are offering
a service to God.
I kiss you, my boy,
in the name of the Lord,
my boy, I kiss you.
Prayer for Queer Abandoned
Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Teach me your way,
LORD; lead me along a safe path because of my oppressors. (Psalm 27:10-11)
God will direct you into laughter.
She loves you.
Resist the Nigerian suggestion
of
a Divine Apartheid. God is not
a man.
Not a pastor, priest, bishop, deacon.
She loves you, will tend to your wounds.
God will direct you
into laughter.
She will direct you.
God will direct you into freedom.
Zach Tanimola is a queer poet and teacher from Nigeria. When not reading, he is birdwatching.
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