Last week I had the opportunity to read a poem published by my cousin Ryan’s husband, Richie Hofman. Richie is an accomplished poet and I share this poem with his permission:
Book of Statues
Because I am a boy, the untouchability of beauty
is my subject already, the book statues
open in my lap, the middle of October, leaves
foiling the wet ground
in soft copper. “A statue
must be beautiful
from all sides,” Cellini wrote in 1558.
When I close the book,
the bodies touch. In the west,
they are tying a boy to a fence and leaving him to die,
his face unrecognizable behind a mask
of blood. His body, icon
of loss, growing meaningful
against his will.
As you may have surmised, the poem is about Matthew Shepard who died on October 12, 1998 after being beaten, murdered for who he was, a gay man. One of his murderers said that Shepard “needed killing.” Later this month Matthew’s remains will be interred at the Washington National Cathedral. His mother said, “We’ve given much thought to Matt’s final resting place, and we found the Washington National Cathedral is an ideal choice, as Matt loved the Episcopal church and felt welcomed by his church in Wyoming.”
Lara Schwartz, now a lecturer at American University School of Public Affairs, recently wrote of her experience as a Human Rights Campaign lawyer pushing for the passage of the federal law against hate crimes like the one that took Matthew’s life. Earlier in 1998 year an African American man named James Byrd had also been murdered, by three white supremacists who chained him to a pickup truck and dragged him for 3 miles. The law Ms. Schwartz referenced bears the names of these two men, The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. When the law passed in 2009, President Obama reiterated the importance of taking a stand against “crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits – not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear.”
There are still many forces in the world that push to break spirits and instill fear. In the midst of it all, I am grateful for your beacon of light, dear Doubters. Through your witness you build up the spirits of the weary and provide a safe haven for those who are afraid, bringing us closer to the day when icons of loss will be no more.
To watch the service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance for Matthew Shepard on Friday, October 26 at 9am Central go to: https://cathedral.org/
+ Joy
