Various Contributors
Oko is proud to support Pride and represent the views and voices of all ASW students.
See the writing and artwork submitted for our first Pride edition below!
Shan’t I feeleth asham’d to loveth thee?
Yasmin
I wrote this Shakespearean sonnet about my struggle to accept my identity and my experience growing up queer in a religious environment with hostility towards homosexuality. I used this format and archaic English to make it more of a concealed message, since many queer kids (including me) have had to use subtle language to be able to communicate with each other without being suspected.
Shan’t I feeleth asham’d to loveth thee?
They doth not concur with thy thought.
If 't be true that thee doest loveth me,
Thee wanteth a sinn’r, so thy hath got.
A mistress shan’t lie with anoth’r,
Nor goeth ‘gainst our Holy Saint.
Oh, a sir shouldst beest thy lov’r,
Thy thoughts shouldst beest faint.
Shall I still feeleth shame f’r all?
Thee ow’st so fair and beautiful.
At this hour oth'rs judgeth my fall,
Thy careth f’r me beest plentiful.
T’is with her that at each moment I shall lay,
Thou cannot changeth me if’t thee dost pray.
