The text that I decided to focus on for my second blog post was another one of Saeed Jones’ poems, Boy in a Whalebone Corset, because it really stuck out to me as a poem that explores different a different theme than most of his other poems, which is his religious trauma.
In this poem, Saeed Jones makes a lot of references and allusions to biblical depictions of punishment, focusing specifically on the lines, “he’s in the field, gasoline jug, / hand full of matches, night made / of locusts, column of smoke / mistaken for Old Testament God.” (Jones 12) These allusions make me think of how homophobia is treated in religious contexts, and how faith can be used as an excuse for bigotry and abuse. Locusts represent coming punishment, as mentioned in the second line of the poem, and Old Testament God represents wrath, for example the wrath brought down when destroying the also referenced city of Sodom for the sin of homosexuality.
Another thing to focus on is the Nina Simone record playing in the background, and the lines “And the record skips / and skips and skips.” (Jones 12) I think the record skipping symbolizes something very important, which is that this event seriously traumatized him, to the point at which it is stuck in his mind repeating over and over again, like a broken record.
The reason I wanted to analyze this poem is because it is a very common experience in the LGBTQ community to suffer from abuse from a religious standpoint. Being told that what you are is wrong and that you will face eternal damnation just for being yourself is exactly what happens in this poem when Saeed Jones, exploring his gender, puts on a corset and his father catches him. Not only does the fire his father sets leave scars on his memory, hence the skipping record, but is also an attempt at purification since fire is used in the Bible as a metaphor for cleansing of sins and the father views his son as corrupted by homosexuality, needing to be purified in the eyes of the Lord.
Wait… this is so fire (literally because of your last paragraph). As I’m reading your take on this, specifically Jone’s allusions, all I think of is Ethel Cain and how COMMON this experience is. Growing up either queer, or especially trans in a religious setting is so fascinating. The religious to queer pipeline is an insane thing and must be genetically studied. The idea also of the record skipping rang symbolically to me because I feel like Jones may be trapped in something and he is unable to break free of the homophobic rhetoric cast down on him. I LOVE THIS!!!!
Your focus on the biblical allusions of locusts, the Old Testament God, and the concept of fire as purification is insightful and supports the theme of religious abuse. The link you make between the “skipping record” and the lasting psychological trauma is an awesome piece of symbolic interpretation. Your post talks about a deeply important experience within the LGBTQ+ community which gives the poem the attention it deserves.
I think your posts highlights something so pivotal about Jones background and life. “Mistaken for the Old Testament God.” is a line that really stuck with me because religion is so often used as a scare tactic for queer and marginalized people. Often, conservative or ‘Old Testament” churches will use versions of the bible that explicitly state how homosexuality is a sin and that it’s important to “fight temptation”. I think for many queer people, growing up with these harmful sayings as well as blatant homophobia put into children about who they can love, how they can act, how they should present themselves, can lead to very damaging effects for not just queer people but straight people with them internalizing these bigoted ways and acting upon them towards others or denying themselves self-expression. This poem is so important!!
This is a great analysis! I appreciated how you acknowledged how the speaker is possibly feeling religious guilt and the repercussions of trauma because of how they were surrounded by religious practices focused and pushing heteronormativity.
One of the previous comments discussed that the “religious to queer pipeline” needs to be studied and I completely agree. I would be interested in hearing more stories about members of the queer community who left their religion. I would like to hear their stories about their current relationships with all religion, not just the one they left.