John Whittier Treat
Got a Match?
In Homage to Sylvester (1947-1988)
“Workin’ on my feet in the disco heat”
You never rested a day, you sang for us when beat tired.
“Dancin’ through the night ’til mornin’ light shines on me, again”
I passed you once on Folsom as the Chronicle was being dumped in bales.
“Music makes me dance, dance, dance, dance”
Even when it didn’t you, it did us.
Again
“Dancin’s total freedom”
For a moment we could suppose it was.
“Be yourself and choose your feelin’”
You told us you didn’t need no test, you knew what you had done.
“Come on get up, wanna see some swingin’, swayin’, movin’, groovin’, slidin’, glidin’”
You did all that until you didn’t anymore.
“Rockin’, reelin’, come on get up ev’rybody dance”
Your people still answer the call.
Again
John Whittier Treat is the author of the novel The Rise and Fall of the Yellow House (Big Table Publishing Company, 2015), a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction. His short stories have appeared in the journal Jonathan and the anthology QDA: Queer Disability Anthology (Squares and Rebels, 2015), edited by Raymond Luczak. He has been Professor Emeritus at Yale since 2014. Originally from New Haven, he now lives in Seattle. For more information visit johntreat.com.
SUBMIT to the HIV Here & Now project via our SUBMITTABLE site.