SPEAK OUT, ACT NOW: "Don't ask, Don't tell" - Don't Wait!

"Let's push that one down the road a little bit," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this past Sunday when a Fox News anchor asked him about the timetable for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

With all due respect, Mr. Secretary, let's not. Our military, and our service members, can't afford to.

Write a letter to President Obama telling him why we can't wait:

http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

Here's Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Aubrey Sarvis' take on why we can't wait:

"We're fighting two wars, and we need the most qualified people possible to wage them. In fact, President Obama recently announced plans to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, more than 800 hundred mission-critical service members -- including linguists and intelligence analysts -- have been fired under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."Almost 13,000 service members have been fired since the law took effect in 1994. The longer the president and Pentagon delay the issue, the longer the military will keep firing service members because of their sexual orientation. And because intelligence experts and people who speak Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Dari aren't exactly easy to come by, we'll have fewer people to call on in the fight against terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "

What do you think? Tell President Obama here: http://www.sldn.org/dontwait

THEO'S THOUGHTS: History has proven, the nation has only improved with military equality. If we separate and segregate ourselves with shallow labels, we only become easier to divide and conquer.

By excluding willing and able men and women from serving because of their sexuality or gender identity, we are handing ourselves to the terrorists in the form of pre-sliced bread and saying "Here, try to make a sandwich of us now."

This hits home for me too, as my very dear friend leaves for the Air Force in a few weeks. I worry about him terribly, as he is gay, but I know he cares more about this nation then he does his own comfort, and is willing to not only risk his life and his reputation, but willingly condemn himself to six years of torturous secret keeping, staring at his tongue anxiously making sure he doesn't slip.

And to think, he's making all these extra sacrifices for a country that won't allow him equal rights.
It's ridiculous.

This would never happen in Canada.

Theo.

Pedro, 1994's Milk?

In 1994, Pedro Zamora brough AIDS to a national spotlight through his open honesty on The Real World San Francisco, Season Three.
"He brought the disease to the spotlight and brought a humanizing element to this most feared and misunderstood illness," said QueersUnited. "Pedro became the face of HIV/AIDS activism for the younger generation and his courage to stand up and be counted has made a difference in countless lives and he made a place for himself in history."
He changed the lives of thousands, passing away on November 11th, 1994, just a few hours after the finale of The Real World. Tomorrow, MTV will debut "Pedro", a movie of the young man's amazing life, an incredibly relevant and necessary film that will premire tomorrow night.

Here is a clip of the upcoming movie of Pedro Zamora's life, "Pedro" which debuts on MTV Wednesday [TOMORROW NIGHT!] April 1st at 8pm EST.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/movies/358237/his-life-and-personality-are-very-inspiring.jhtml#movieId=1606095

Cigarette Sabbaticals

(Ever notice how "smoke" and "don't" kind of rhyme? Maybe not rhyme, sound similar might be the better word... Theo)


Broken promises and cut
Short
Cigarette sabbaticals
After pulling down to the filter
Where it tastes like a barbers parlor
The hair spray and tar linger…

Throw it down now.
Crush, rub, snuff,
Into the ground.

I’ll leave the cement
And head north west.
Upstate, nature’s pavement,
The granite slabs that
Move in wind
As if they can breathe…

Unlike these city streets
Lifeless and polluted with
Ends of cancer stick butts,
Means of taking each breath
For granted…

Cigarette Sabbaticals
copyrighted 2009 by Theo Martin

(Temporary Title)

(Here's another piece, returning back to my usual form and rhyme tendencies. This is also one that sounds better performed then just read, so keep that in mind. If you pay attention to the meter, and the amount of syllables in each line, you'll see what I'm talking about. The form has as much to do with the meaning as the content does. Or, you could just read it, and not count. Which ever. Who am I to tell you what to do? :) - Theo]


Love,
It’s… Strange.
Love?
We’ve changed.

Slowly
But surely
Things are
Coming to me
Learning
And Hurting
Starting
Understanding


It’s moments like these
When I’m not asleep
But lying in bed
Toss-turning my head
In two directions
Making no decisions
I’m learning my lessons
But handed graded quizzes

And “sorry”
It just might be
Just short of
Of explaining
How I feel
Bout how you’ll feel
For this New Deal
As it is revealed

But you have no choice
But to raise your voice
This time you can’t stop me
And I won’t give up lightly

It’s because
I lost to you
Far too many times
And now you have lost me
And I’m finally all mine

Words will never explain
How these tragedies build up
On to such a great dream
So it can never live up
To its fullest potential
The decay is exponential
And once it finally dies
Then, Then I will no longer cry

Oh, Forever, The ship has been sinking
And trust me, believe me, I have been bailing
The water rushes in faster then my pail fills up
Not necessarily quitting but a necessary give up
Surrender, Surrender, to heavy problems that pile, pile up
Then you will see there are more fish in the sea once you get in and you swim
Its time to dive in, no more wading, no more waiting, no more toe testing in
It’s over.

I love you, I love you.
And while Our lives end
Now, here my life
And your life
Begin,
Friend


[P.S. Anyone with title suggestions? It'd be much appreciated! -Theo]

Slow Drag

[Free form! On of the few open verses you'll see, so appreciate the lack of attention to rhyme and rhythm. A few things do rhyme but that wasn't entirely intended. Enjoy! Theo]

Slow drag,
magically blissful.
Slow, as if it were precious,
and I look up at the tallest top of the tallest tall building
hoping to stir vertigo with light-headedness.

(Its funny...
how you can't see the stars in the city.)

People pass,
Saying nothing verbally.

I look up,
and I see my reflection
in a metal awning above me.
This is what I look like to stars.

I see volcanic clouds surround me,
streaming from my mouth.
As if beneath my mantle
lived magma,
once pressured and poised to explode,
relaxing with every exhale of ash.

Eventually
inhaling feels as easy as breathing,
in and out... in, out...
(Because ignorance...)

It's funny how you can't see the stars in the city,
because of light pollution, among others.
I wonder if they can still see us.
Sometimes, during certain blushing moments,
I hope not.

Lately I've been trying to take the stairs
over escalators and elevators,
choosing reality over money and machinery,
but there will always be that dependency.

Slow drag,
medically hurtful,
Slow, but worthless.

But!
Its said that ignorance
on fire
is better then knowledge
on ice.

Slow Drag
copyrighted 2009 by Theo Martin

Educate and Activate! Four minutes of Homosexuality 101.

[This is the most adorable concise video summarizing all arguements for and against homosexuality. Use it for a reference, send it to your homophobic heteronormalized friends, or just enjoy it for what it is. It's funny and factual! -Theo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PooEhBxh0NY

[PS: It's satire, humorous stereotyping. No worries, I appreciate at the fun it pokes at everyone]

Malori (raw piece)

[And now you can see a poem as it grows. This is word for word what I scribbled on a napkin after running into an old friend - and I use this term loosely. More like a very close acquaintance, someone I became very close with at a school retreat, hung out a few times, lost touch, and she hasn't given me the time of day since. Until the other day, when I saw her. Strangely awkward encounter and sudden reminder of a love that I had that never grew. I found the napkin and decided to share this infant of a piece, that is, if it ever grows to become a piece, much unlike the subject itself, which never became anything. Raw, untouched, undeveloped, and overexposing how I speak my mind. Hope you enjoy. Theo]


Malori
She has two colored eyes
the left different from the right
ones blue ones green
not a shade in between
but if the two combined
they'd color the Atlantic skyline
they're deep but they're light
illuminating and bright
her eyes leave sunspots on mine
i don't know what the rest of her looks like
because whenever
the pair
is there
i swear
i stare
and fall in.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Oil (Anything To Stop Your Whining)

[Happy 2nd of 3 Friday the Thirteenths this year! What a lucky, lucky year. Maybe that's not sarcastic... Either way, here's a shortie but I'm mid-writer's block. Enjoy the drought, it will make you appreciate the rain! Theo]


The Squeaky Wheel

I’d do anything for you
Anything
I mean anything
If you promise you’ll stop your whining
Because I can only take you
In small doses
Small portions
The tiniest milligrams of you can poison
The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Color Television

[Well, I personally hate TV. I think its a waste of time. I like to watch shows - but from a computer. The difference is eventually I have to get off my butt to watch something else, but televisions? Nah. They were built to run all day, and all night, and all the next day. Its the media keeping us fat and incubating us like little money babies in our own homes. I say this as I change my major to Media and Communications... Theo]


Color television

You watch your television in HD and color
Grumbling mumbling much like your father
Watching his whole life in black and white
Seeing the world in two tones, day and night

You watch your back when you’re with company
You can’t show your emotion’s without seeming funny
You cut off self expression to preserve your ideals
You suffocate yourself from admitting how it feels

It was once the same thing as people with color
In your fathers time they were treated as others
Now that your view sitcoms in a rainbow of hues
Sharply, suddenly, equality feels different to you

But just as one light can fill an entire room
I know the truth will shine through, and soon
Just as the colors of moving flashing screen
Change the walls, the floors, and all in between

Because, You watch your television in HD and color
The facts are in front of you and they couldn’t be clearer
We are all completely different, and this way is better
It’s what makes us the same, what holds us together

Color Televison
copyrighted 2009 by Theo Martin

Ballad of the Hedonist

[Ah! Long time, no poem. My tremendous apologies. It will never happen again... Maybe. Nevermind. I can't back that up. Whoops. Stay tuned, despite the hiatus. -Theo]


Ballad of the Hedonist

You are cheating death
With each laugh out the car window
You are cheating life
With each little pill you swallow

You’re getting pleasure
But you’re skipping out on the pain
Each absent lecture
Validated, Excused in vain

You think the world is going to slow down it’s rotation
If and when you decide you don’t like your direction
You are going to threaten and beg the game to reset
But there are no plugs to pull out, No do-over buttons

You know what you’re doing
Toss your hair back, like it’s all a commercial
At least it is convincing
You look twenty one, but where’s your bible?

Your parent’s how to raise a child guide
It is sitting on the very same shelf
A puritan put it in, wanting life
Wanting to see heights, wanted to know wealth

Is that such a bad thing
Are you such a bad kid
You’re not home studying
But you can say you lived

What if you died at eighteen
Never ever had a trip, a love, a drink
Never made a chemical mistake
People will have nothing to think

Of your Saturday’s alone
Because that’s where you would be
Say goodnight in a quiet tone
Sunday’s sermon’s beckoning

It is such a debate to tackle
Since before the days of the trails to Oregon
Preserve rations until you settle
Or feast, seize the day. Until morning, party right on.


Ballad of the Hedonist
copyrighted 2009 by Theo Martin