We two boys together clinging

A fine piece about gay sensibility from none other than the Guardian (UK).

Do you recognise this title? It's the opening of a poem by Walt Whitman, a well-known homosexualist poet from the end of nineteenth century USA. Click here for Gay history's long piece about our forefather.

The picture is one of David Hockney's.

And here's what all the fuss is about - a compact little piece that packs it's own quiet punch.

WE two boys together clinging,
One the other never leaving,
Up and down the roads going—North and South excursions making,
Power enjoying—elbows stretching—fingers clutching,
Arm’d and fearless—eating, drinking, sleeping, loving,
No law less than ourselves owning—sailing, soldiering, thieving, threatening,
Misers, menials, priests alarming—air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the sea-beach dancing,
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing,
Fulfilling our foray.

Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900.