HOMONYM    poems by    Edward DeBonis

Introduction by the Author

A gay youth's first realization that his natural attractions must be hidden. A Catholic who rejects the Church but talks to the dead. An out-gay man who buries friends, who falls in love with a woman. A marriage. A divorce.

A move to New York. A chance meeting. The out-gay man falls in love with a man, follows him to the Church of his roots through Dignity New York, LGBT Catholics. An unexpected rekindling of his spirituality and faith. The joy and sorrow that follow when two men decide to marry.

All words are homonyms. They mean different things to different people. They mean different things to the same person at different times in their lives.

To Justice Scalia the words in the Constitution are dead, immutable, incapable of more than one interpretation. To Pope John Paul, words in the Bible mean that we are "intrinsically disordered." Jerry Falwell "loves" us but hates our sins.

To them we say: "You have no answer for us. We are a proud spiritual people. We love one another as God loves us. We are committed to our faith and to each other. We are married. You cannot take away our Dignity."

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