THEY DON’T KNOW I’M YOUR BOYFRIEND

Charles Becker

I want

no more lies

no sabotaging self-talk

I’m tired

and besides

you’ve taught me

how to get Black now

when pushed too far

by prejudice

and ignorance

so take for example

your wheelchair

and why we get

naked

to enjoy

the erotic moves

of disabled sex

cerebral palsied pleasures

and the success of our bodies

sweating youthful

yet again,

then afterwards

laughing to ourselves

I push, you roll

outside for some cool

air and enhanced smell

of our night-blooming jasmine,

neighbors walking by

smile approvingly

assuming

I’m your caretaker

but I grin, nod back

and whisper

under my breath,

No, we’re lovers

and in fact

when we’re together

he walks

on water.

Charlie Becker is a special education teacher and speech therapist who writes, teaches, and performs poetry with the Community Literature Initiative in Los Angeles. His poems about art, nature, friendships, and issues that impact the LGBT-Q community have been published by Passager, Silver Pinion, The Comstock Review, Oyster River Pages, and The Orchard Street