Had I exited
the straight jacket
of faux-straightness
in my early 20s,
two questions arise:

Would I be alive?
(That was pre-AIDS.) 

And would I have had the guts
to ride nearly naked on a float
while Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"
blasted to a cheerful, cheering crowd?

Let's hope so.

Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.