Slam poetry is pretty recent, but everyone's into it nowadays. its an effective way to get your poetry across, using movements and tones and emphasis of speech, and a whole latta' emotion! Without this genre, poetry wouldn't be as expressive and pop out as much as it does today. This is a great way to reach the younger generation through poetry, kind of like the beats generation was. You can literally talk about anything and not get put in jail or tried for it (unlike the beats poetry era). Even if your message, like one college poet, Elliot Darrow, is 'God is gay'. Its all about your experience and your passion for the subject in this genre. And its performed all by memory! (Even though I have the words typed here, thanks from the gailygrind.com website. What a weird name for a website. But going on...)
God is Gay. I'm kidding. But one awesome guy in the slam poetry genre decided to write about it.
God is Gay by Elliot Darrow
What if I told you God is gay? Do you think belligerent bible-belters Would still holler hate speech to the hilltops In His name? Or do you think they would reread the scriptures They say they swear and survive by See, I’ve been reading the Bible again lately And I think I’ve taken a leaf from their holy book, Picking passages for my purpose Which is in short To let you know it’s very possible God is gay. I mean think about the book of Genesis In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth And it wasn’t just good, it was fabulous. I mean what else is our planet but the pinnacle Of exterior design, and I don’t mean to generalize But it certainly seems like that the Garden of Eden Was designed by queer, I mean divine eye for the straight guy But some Christians would go as far as to call God’s creations abominations Heretics calling themselves faithful When their faith is full of belief that only God may pass judgment Matthew 7:1 Judge and you too shall be judged Luke 6: 37 Condemn not and you shall not be condemned Fred Phelps 2006: You’re going to hell! God hates fags! A history lesson: A faggot is a bundle of sticks Originally used as kindling for fires that engulfed gays When they were burned at the stake, people were firewood But Moses came across wood on fire and saw God in it, What is a burning bush but bundles of branches On fire, isn’t it funny how faggots and God can look the same sometimes? Keep in mind Jesus had two dads and turned out just fine In fact, Jesus had two dads and a surrogate mother That never had sex with either of them, Maybe Mary was a lesbian And I remember the prayer going “Hail Mary, full of grace” Not full of sin, “Pray for us sinners” For we have become blinded by bigotry. And forgotten that God gave us the rainbow As a promise that we will never be flooded again Either with rain or ignorance And now all the homosexual Homo sapiens Stand more united under God’s rainbow Than all of his denominations do around the cross. I was brought up believing that my Savior loved us all And never had to specify “no homo” But if you have hate in your heart Say it don’t pray it Don’t teach it and for the love of God don’t preach it Because I am tired of these fire and brimstone sermons Slinging slurs when they’re not firing brimstones From voices that should be filled with love and praise Instead of raised with hate and rage I am a Christian, and I believe in saying the Christian thing. Which used to sound like “Love thy neighbor as thyself” But now sounds more like hate at the top of your picket signs The closest thing to God being “Hell, is waiting for you” They’re passing out damnation pamphlets Filled with out-of-context Bible verses Trying to define God When his meaning is clear. He is acceptance, He is pride, He is humility, He is just, God is perfection, God is protection, God is love, But most importantly God is gay |
Many things tell me this guy is actually gay from the way he supports homosexual people and has a whole arsenal of bible verses to prove it. But going on, he's also a Christian, and the main idea of this lovely poem is that he wants people to see that gays are Christian, too: and God is gay.
Some literary devices he uses a LOT are paradoxes, and maybe an oxymoron (though its a strecth), and metaphors and allusion: yes, a lot of that. Paradox: Isn't it funny how faggots and God can look the same sometimes? (he, he. fav. quote) Matthew 7:1 Judge and you too shall be judged Luke 6: 37 Condemn not and you shall not be condemned Fred Phelps 2006: You’re going to hell! God hates fags! I mean what else is our planet but the pinnacle Of exterior design, and I don’t mean to generalize But it certainly seems like that the Garden of Eden Was designed by queer, I mean divine eye for the straight guy But some Christians would go as far as to call God’s creations abominations oxymoron: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and it wasn't just good, it was fabulous. (because he's trying to compare god's words with those of someone who was gay). Metaphor(s): ...what else is our planet but the pinnacle of exterior design (he might be seriously literal) For we have become blinded by bigotry... And now all the homosexual Homo sapiens Stand more united under God’s rainbow Than all of his denominations do around the cross. (once again, could be literal. But in reality, we don't actually stand under the cross, as neither do homosexual Homo Sapiens under the rainbow.) So the figurative language out of the way, what is my interpretation? Well, don't ask me if I support gay rights. actually, I do but its not a part of the project. This poem, to me, means exactly what I stated in the beginning. this guy wants you to know there's actual proof in the Bible that he of course pulled out for himself that can state God is gay. The whole poem is full of these facts. a more concealed interpretation is that what Christians stand up for today they are just not supporting. they're saying God hates fags, but what if God was gay? Staying within the bounds to support this, I'll use evidence from the poem. "When their faith is full of belief that only God may pass judgment" With that statement, Darrow infers that the people know it's not right to judge, and they do it anyway, even when there's biblical proof around it ("So you bibically believing Christians, won't you even believe that God is possibly gay based off my biblical facts?" - that might also be what he's saying and trying to get people to believe in). But yes, he agrees that Christians are not doing their best to step up their 'rep. God' game and instead are paying too much of their attention to the homosexuals: "I was brought up believing that my Savior loved us all And never had to specify 'no homo' But if you have hate in your heart Say it don’t pray it Don’t teach it and for the love of God don’t preach it". Basically, if that's what you believe then say it. Don't preach it to everyone in the name of God. Because what if God was homosexual, just like "fags" were an image of God in the Bible? And God supposedly died for everybody, so excluding gay people from that isn't a calling for Christians. And what justifies the fact that God is probably very well gay is all that wonderful evidence in that poem and that God pretty much is more in favor of gays than we realize.
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Here are some links to some other nice slam poetry artists, a contribution from Def Poetry on Youtube
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U_OOKcKFND0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DU_OOKcKFND0
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOo6Iz6rpc
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U_OOKcKFND0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DU_OOKcKFND0
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOo6Iz6rpc