19&20/30

18 is still under construction. It's proving more difficult than I thought.
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19/30:
The flight was overbooked, so everyone watched,
wondering who would get on, who would get
a hotel room, a later flight, discount vouchers,
hollow apologies. Even after they made it on
one couple was pulled back off to make room for
another two, no explanations given to the rest of them.
They watched as one young man, tall, white, and
handsome, stood waiting with the flight attendants,
effortlessly flirting, natural as a mother tongue.
They watched as the captain (herself a woman,
still, even at 60) was charmed, pulled out
an extra seat in the cockpit, settled him in,
closed that resolute door. Takeoff was messy,
rain pelting the airplane, sounding like marbles
dropped from a great height, Velcro strips pulled painfully
slowly apart. The flight was turbulent and the landing
nerve-wracking and all anyone could think of was
that lucky young man in the cockpit, privy to the magic,
the view of the broad windshield, the technical jargon
on the radio. When it was all over, one hour and
thirty-eight minutes later, they all watched him exit,
slip off first; one woman approached him at the gate,
now silent, asked him, "What did you see up there?" His
unblinking reply fell on all their ears: "Everything."
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20/30: "No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be."

Gay America, Miss California thinks your lifestyle is a choice.
"Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose..."
Perez Hilton, sharpen your nails and scratch out her voice.

Can't you see her, growing up, learning waves, smiles and poise?
Her parents changing channels any time she saw the news.
Bi America, Miss California thinks your struggles are your choice.

Fancy dresses, plastic tiaras, and contempt: her childhood toys,
living in a house that hated niggers, spics, and jews.
Dave Sedaris, sharpen your pencil and write out her voice.

An ignorant judgmental attitude is one that only destroys.
Backward teachings and religion are never an excuse.
Trans America, Miss California thinks your suffering's your choice.

Same sex marriage or "opposite marriage?" Her answer just annoys.
"...one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose."
Elton John, clear your throat and sing out over her voice.

No crown for Carrie Prejean, no trophies or cause to rejoice.
Feel, along with those you've slandered, what it means to lose.
Queer America, Miss California thinks inequality is your choice.
Matthew Shepard, live again and speak some truth over her voice.