Long before the complexities of first love occupied my thoughts as a high school sophomore, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”, resonated with me on a different level. It wasn’t the romantic undertones that initially captivated me, nor was it a specific person who came to mind while reading it in class. While the imagery was undeniably beautiful, it was the poem’s bold declaration of immortality in its concluding lines that truly seized my attention.
Even at that age, I grasped the concept of literature’s timeless nature, its capacity to transcend generations and achieve a form of eternity by connecting with readers across time. However, this particular poem unveiled a literature that explicitly asserted immortality, not just for itself as a work of art, but for its very subject. It proclaimed this enduring life not merely to an audience, but directly to the subject of the poem:
“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
The subject, whether woman or man, rendered with such grace through metaphor, is immortalized within these verses, imbued with lasting value and worth. This notion was profoundly impactful. My own experiences as an impoverished, queer, Mexican immigrant growing up in a politically charged America were largely absent from mainstream culture. When aspects of my identity were acknowledged, such as limited portrayals of gay men in media, it was often overshadowed by the looming shadow of a terrifying new epidemic. This reality fostered feelings of marginalization, a sense of invisibility that gradually eroded my self-worth.
Yet, within this poem, a spark ignited, a turning point emerged. The final couplet, simultaneously somber and celebratory, acknowledging mortality while defying it, presented language as a powerful tool. It was language that could bestow value upon an individual, rendering them beautiful in the process.
In the years that followed, numerous beginnings and first experiences would accumulate, eventually culminating in my own journey into poetry. My motivations for writing are varied, but the initial impulse stemmed from a desire to give voice to what had been neglected, disregarded, forgotten, or never acknowledged in the first place. I write to transmute pain and ugliness into beauty through language, recognizing the universal within the deeply personal, always just a line break away. This transformative process remains, to this day, a truly magnificent alchemy.
