October Mourning A Song for Matthew Shepard

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman

Prepare to cry.

If you read this and don't cry, I strongly recommend getting more in touch with your humanity. I SAID IT.

An amazon summary to know where I'm going with this, "WINNER OF A 2013 STONEWALL HONOR!

A masterful poetic exploration of the impact of Matthew Shepard’s murder on the world.
On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, in October of 1998, I was only 9 years old and had no clue about this. I suspect I had already developed my willful ignoring of the news, and again, I was 9. I didn't truly know about this story until someone placed this book into my hands.

I'm so grateful they did.

So this book is about the night Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten and the events surrounding it in the form of poetry. There is an explanation in the front of the book and a note from the author about the events of Matthew Shepard's death.

The poems center from different perspective of the people that were there and even from the people whose lives were touched. Of course, it's all poems by the author and what they imagine those people would write and/or were feeling, but it's very powerful.

It really makes me want to tell everyone I know that I love them. (DWAAAA)

This isn't a happy book by any means, and the poem where I finally broke down in tears is titled 'Where Is My Boy?'. If you read this book, I wish that you would share the poem that just touched (not literally, geez) you. What resonated with your person-hood?

I also think this book has an interesting way of exploring hatred, compassion, and love.

Oh, and I enjoy poetry now and then by the by. SURPRISE.

Happy reading!