‘In the Queer Utopia’ by Alain Ginsberg

After just reading the title ‘In the Queer Utopia,’ I was ready to love this poem by Alain Ginsberg (one of three incredible pieces up at Metatron) and after finishing the poem itself I’m more transformed than I could have hoped. It is a poem brimming hope within bone-deep sadness—there is something forever radical when it comes to dreaming of a better future, particularly as we watch the wanton destruction of what little progress we’ve made. ‘In the Queer Utopia’ outlines a world without the everyday violence and death that undergirds wide swaths of the queer community, and with such a simple premise Ginsberg finds a dizzying lyricism that could easily drown the heart:

and in this future the graveyards get so big
and green and beautiful, we grow empty caskets in the soft earth
filled with dead names

Sit with this poem. Wonder at its hope. Take just one step to make it a reality. Then another.

Metatron