Confession

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned;

it has been 33 years since my last confession

and I’ve been most prideful

but it’s the good kind of pride

like befriending people in the LGBTQ+

community, visiting gay bars

and clubs with friends, marching in Pride

and becoming a better ally

until I realized that I was

not straight but instead an ace

and was nervous but eventually summoned

the courage to come out to my mom

who didn’t react as positively

as I would’ve expected and I hope

she’ll come around but until she does

I’ll keep praying for her

and trying to be a better brother

to my queer siblings, which I know I have

not always been,

like failing to attend Pride last summer

because I told myself I was busy

and though I was, I also know that was mostly an excuse

so please forgive, my newest family

and forgive me, Jonathan,

for keeping you closeted for so long

and I’ll say as many Hail Marys

as I need to, but may I feel full of pride

instead of just grace and be

with you all more now than ever. Amen.

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Jonathan Fletcher holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University.  A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, he won Northwestern University Press’s Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize in 2023, for which he will have his debut chapbook, This is My Body, published in 2025