Need To Know: Tony Leuzzi

When recently asked about the gay content of his poems, Leuzzi responded:

Any man who admits his attraction to another man finds himself in a marginal position in the patriarchy. It's 2010 and I still come across editors who won't publish some of my poems because they are too 'explicit.' I once wrote a sonnet that an editor rejected based upon its homosexual content. I remember the exact words: 'Your sonnet is very impressive. But we're trying to get our publication picked up by university libraries. Sorry.' What?! Are you kidding me with this? I guess what I'm saying is, representations of male homoeroticism are still pretty edgy in mainstream reading circles. The fact that almost one-third of this new collection of poems deals squarely with gay male desire is a risk. It's political."

Illumination (from Radiant Losses)

I
climbed
the stairs
to his room
and found him naked,
as promised, lying silently
upon the bed, and the bed itself quite promising.

I
stripped
quickly
and joined him
in the soft, semi-
darkness lit by two thin candles,
where our pale skin flickered in the flickering shadows.

But
when
flame ceased,
and he turned
on the lights so I
could gather back my clothes, I saw
before me, posed like gods, a pair of tall bronze statues.

Radiant Losses is currently available through the New Sins Press website and will soon be sold on Amazon.com.

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