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October mourning : a song for Matthew Shepard / Lesléa Newman ; with a new foreword by Judy Shepard.

by Newman, Lesléa.

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Candlewick Press, c2020.

Shepard, Matthew, 1976-1998 -- Poetry.

Murder victims -- Poetry.

Gays -- Poetry.

Gays -- Crimes against -- Poetry.

Hate crimes -- Poetry.

American poetry -- 21st century.

Wyoming -- Laramie -- Poetry.

9781536215779 (pbk.)

Alternate title:

Song for Matthew Shepard

xxi, 115 pages ; 23 cm.

Introduction -- Prologue: The fence (before) -- Outnumbered -- Recipe for disaster -- Something snapped -- Raising awareness -- Every mother's plea -- The truck -- Road rage -- A sorry state -- Signs of trouble -- The clothesline -- The pistol -- Witness -- The fence (that night) -- What you can do in eighteen hours -- Stars -- The wind -- The doe -- Where is my boy? -- The biker -- The patrol officer's report -- The doctor -- Housekeeper, ICU -- Lame enough -- How to have the worst day of your life -- The journalist -- Vigil: candles in the wind -- The Armbands -- Scared to death -- Heartfelt apology -- October 12, 1998 -- Now showing: Matthew's story -- Tree -- Class photo: me in the middle or "What will you be when you grow up?" -- Then and now -- Thirteen ways of looking at Matthew -- The fence (one week later) -- Stand by your man -- Accessory -- Officer of the court -- His shoes -- The frat boys -- The songwriter -- The drag queen -- The cop -- The bartender -- Let's say -- The student -- A father -- A mother -- A chorus of parents -- The church lady -- A protestor -- An angel -- Jury selection -- The prosecutor's job -- The defense's job -- Don't flatter yourself -- Sorry boy -- Logic problem -- Verdict -- Mercy -- What twenty bucks could get you in 1998 -- Wounded -- This is the hand -- Once upon a time -- The fence (after) -- Epilogue: Pilgrimage -- Afterword: Imagine.

On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was kidnapped from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew's murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard's life. Back matter includes an epilogue, an afterword, explanations of poetic forms, and resources.

American poetry.

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