The piece presented is from a forthcoming novel entitled Further that should be finished within the next year; the novel is based on my friend Joshua, who disappeared a little over a year ago after Gavin Newsom cleaned Golden Gate Park of its street people and youth. Joshua often talked about being abducted by aliens so it is my hope that he is somewhere in outer space. This chapter comes just before Joshua begins his porn career and follows his liberation from an older sadist that hired Joshua as a house boy after Joshua ran away from home.
—Stephen Boyer

 

Chapter 2: Sailing

In the ending of the William Carlos Williams poem "The Yacht," the rich New England yacht racers are portrayed as obliviously racing across the ocean, conscious only of a boating victory. While racing, they forget the people below who cry out failing, failing! After I first read the poem I instantly aligned myself with the bloodied weeping masses tossed in the wake of the yachts. After the second reading I threw the book across the room and walked to the bathroom. I scrubbed my face with soap and water. Repeatedly looked in the mirror. Despite my faggot peculiarities I saw myself as common; I didn’t own, I worked, I ate what was cheap, I drank as often as possible, farted habitually, wore cheap hand-me-downs I referred to as vintage, loved nature, smoked cigarettes, hated the government, desired the fabulous life, lived with a lean build, cussed, wore sunglasses, drank coffee in the morning, I ached for something that I couldn’t identify, I listened to indie music, loved to dance, desired honest friendships, hoped one day my life would be filled with love, I was happy in the grocery store, I loved the smell of toast and I ate pizza often. I wanted to be oblivious to my birth parent’s features maintaining prominence on my mirror, I wanted to be independent, free of their allegiance to the "safety" of an American culture that needed an Other to hate and feed off.