Disguise
Courageous young man,
your beauty cannot be destroyed
yet somehow it is lost between
the bulges of muscle on Castro Street.
The search for romantic paradise
has led you to knock on the doors
of those who have long since vanished
into the hollowness of compromise.
Cast aside compromise and let dreams
dawn a glorious awakening in your mind.
Can the faded jeans disguise the jaded dreams
of the boys on Castro Street?
Will a pretty face fill the empty place
in the hearts of those who wander?
Does their attention mean that it's you they've seen
or are you just entertainment for the night?
The looking brings the kinds of things
that stimulate the appetite of a starving man.
John Ostlund index