Poet Richard Blanco immortalizes our quest for marriage equality in his new poem, “Until We Could,” which was commissioned by Freedom to Marry in honor of the 10-year anniversary of Massachusetts’ legal recognition of same-sex marriages.
The Daily Beast published the poem—and an evocative, touching video to accompany the piece—on its site.
The short film, which was shot in Austin, Texas, and directed by David Lowery and Yen Tan, and featuring the voices of Ben Foster and House of Cards’ Robin Wright, was an official selection for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Blanco told The Daily Beast he and his partner of 14 years, who live in Maine where gays and lesbians are legally allowed to marry, have not yet “gotten around” to getting married, though they hope to do so early next year. He said he hopes his composition will become a common reading at same-sex weddings nationwide.
“That’s one of the things I hope for it—that it can be used at gay weddings, for all generations. I hope the poem reminds young people about the work their mamas and papas did for equality to get them to this point, that they realize the struggle isn’t over, that they must keep carrying the torch for those who aren’t as lucky, who cannot say ‘I do.'”
The romance in each line at once embraces us and calls us to action to see the fairness of love: We are all equal.
I taught you how to dance Salsa by looking
into my Caribbean eyes, you learned to speak
in my tongue, while teaching me how to catch
a snowflake in my palms and love the grey clouds of your grey
hometown. Our years began
collecting in glossy photos time-lining our lives
across shelves and walls glancing back at us…
See the entire poem on The Daily Beast and enjoy it read in the film below.
