Hi all,

My name's Musa Okwonga, and I'm a performance poet, musician and football writer based in East London. Late last year, I was in Amsterdam for an incredible weekend, which is pretty much the most gay and bi-friendly place on Earth; other regions are a bit less friendly to our sort.  Being someone who has had relationships with both genders, I was perturbed to see the recent Anti-Homosexuality Bill rear its hateful head in Uganda, the land of my parents' birth.  It was as firm a reminder as any that homophobia is alive and thriving, despite many of our best efforts. 

At any rate, here is my poem, "My Love (for Eudy Simelane)"; there's a link at the foot of the page which explains who Eudy Simelane is.  Thanks for reading.      

"My Love (for Eudy Simelane)"

To some people
My love is somewhat alien;
When he comes up, they start subject-changing, and
In some states he's seen as some contagion -
In those zones, he stays subterranean;
Some love my love; they run parades for him:
Liberal citizens lead the way for him:
Concurrent with some countries embracing him,
Whole faiths and nations seem ashamed of him:
Some tried banning him,
God-damning him,
Toe-tagging him,
Prayed that he stayed in the cabinet,
But my love kicked in the panelling, ran for it -
My love! Can't be trapping him in labyrinths! -
Maverick, my love is; thwarts challenges;
Cleverest geneticists can't fathom him,
Priests can't defeat him with venomous rhetoric;
They'd better quit; my love's too competitive:
Still here, despite the Taliban, Vatican,
And rap, ragga in their anger and arrogance,
Calling on my love with lit matches and paraffin -
Despite the fistfights and midnight batterings -
Despite the dislike by Anglican Africans
And sly comparisons with those mishandling
Small kids, and his morbid inner chattering
My love's still here and fiercely battling,
Parenting, marrying, somehow managing;
My love comes through anything

(* http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/12/eudy-simelane-corrective-rape-south-africa
God bless you Eudy Simelane)