He found comfort
In the arms of a man.
With a man like himself
Is where his fragile heart
Found a home.

It was not in the bosom
Of wayward young ladies
Or stubborn, rebellious housewives
That he found acceptance.
He found love in a fellow man.

It was the strangest thing ever,
A taboo by our people
That two of the same kind
Should so find solace
One in another.

I often asked myself
If he sought the unusual,
If his desire for the preternatural
Led him to such passion,
Such brazen defiance of our norms

But I may never know
And you may never be able to tell
If his ‘love’ was born of lustful desire
Or of deep and hurtful emotions
Inflicted by some tragic experience.

But whatever the cause,
Whether natural or man-made
Of this untoward alliance,
It remains a mystery to us
That he found love in a fellow man.

Toyin Taiwo © 2017