The
Times of Zenia Gold : A Verse Novel
by Chris Jones
Being at the forefront of new queerground is
almost old hat for poet Chris Jones. Chris was involved in the
collective that organized the 1978 demonstrations that history has
labeled the first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. In the early '80s he
was an openly gay union delegate in the Port Kembla steelworks. He
helped establish Australia's first queer television broadcasts,
Queer TV.
The Times of Zenia Gold is a three-part
verse novel that rides at the front of a new wave of queer
literature. The poetry is sometimes yummy, sometimes sad,
sometimes inspiring. It is always drugfucked, and always proud.
Part One -- The Boy on the Magazine Cover looks
at fantasies, in all their pain, their hope and their eroticism.
It includes the gems “Pan Handling -- a teenage romance” and
“Loose White Tee Shirts”.
Part Two -- Another Story focuses on all the
deaths in the era of AIDS that have been caused by an even more
insipid disease -- queerphobia -- the deaths in particular from
bashings and suicide, which were sparked by the blaming of the
AIDS virus on gays, lesbians and junkies.
MURDERED MURDERED MURDERED
NO ONE
should die
of a newspaper headline
Part Three -- Elegy and Serenade is Chris'
assertion that, while they may blame us, attack us, demonize us,
we will never give up on our dreams, our strength, our pride.
Don't let the board of censors
bar you from me
be my boy next door.
The Times of Zenia Gold is dedicated to
all demons, to all those whose everyday existence provides a
challenge to heterosexist, Christian morality.
do not the demon
fob off
with half truth
fib nor fiction
-- Review by Michael Arnold
