Chatter: Poet Henri Cole on the Psychology of Coming Out

"I think when you write you can't have all these guns pointed at your head saying, 'you must be a good homosexual'--or a good southern boy, or a good catholic boy, or a good white boy. You have to be free. Speaking to my own poem,'Homosexuality,' it seemed to me that the duck crashing into the room at night was the right metaphor for discovering one's own sexuality. The experience of the duck begins with distress, anxiety, and fear and then moves, when it's freed out the window, to a feeling of clarity and release, which is--for many gay men and women--like the psychological journey of coming out."

--Poet Henri Cole in an all-new interview with Out.com. Read more of what Cole has to say here. Pre-order a copy of his new book, Touch, here.

Previously > Edward Albee Won't Apologize For Not Being Gay Enough