FRANK OCEAN'S POEM ABOUT HIS BOYFRIEND

A Grammy-winning male singer-songwriter has written a poem about his boyfriend, and in 2016, that's still news. 

Frank Ocean released two albums (one of them in the form of a film) and a zine within a 48-hour period, starting Friday. Fans have anticipated his album all year, but the release date kept being pushed back. Boys Don't Cry, Ocean's zine that was sold at pop-up shops throughout the country, features an essay the singer-songwriter penned about his love for cars, a poem called "Boyfriend," and a poem by Kanye West about McDonald's, among other ephemera, photographs, and art. 

Despite the rising visibility of queer singers, its not common to hear a major mainstream artist acknowledge same-sex love in a song or, in Ocean's case, a poem. Most notably, Sam Smith, the out British singer-songwriter, has been criticized for not using male pronouns in his music. Instead the English singer prefers to use gender-neutral pronouns in his songs. 

Ocean first shattered the queer glass ceiling in popular music back in 2012 when he penned a personal essay describing the first time he fell in love. The singer opened up about falling for another man. The R&B singer has been pushing that queer ceiling open since. 

In a thoughtful essay published soon after the Orlando mass shooting, Ocean recounted the first time he heard the word "faggot" used as an insult, by his father. "I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty," he wrote. "That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t."

In the same essay, Ocean wrote about people hating "us" and wishing "we" didn't exist, including himself as a member of the LGBT community: "Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year."

In "Boyfriend," he takes the reader back to June 2015 and the monumental Supreme Court marriage equality decision:

i could say that i'm happy
they let me and my boyfriend become married
i could say that i'm happy
but cross my heart i didn't notice
hope to die no never, we voted
me and my boyfriend cast our ballot
every kiss reads like a poem
making wrongs right like a poem

Ocean describes the process of working on his new album Blonde as "romantic" in another essay from Boys Don't Cry. He writes about his obsession with cars and how Raf Simons, a Belgian fashion designer, called it cliché. "Maybe it links to a deep subconscious straight boy fantasy," Ocean writes. "Consciously though, I don't want straight — a little bent is good."

Read the full poem below.

"Boyfriend" by Frank Ocean

my boyfriend drives a lil bucket
when it rain it fills up with rain
my boyfriend he gon pick me up
don't distract him at the wheel
in his lane
he's the only one

my boyfriend he misses me when i'm gone
so he don't forget me
there's a song he sings
calms his nerve, endings
my boyfriend is friendly
and we don't want no problems

i could say that i'm happy
they let me and my boyfriend become married
i could say that i'm happy
but cross my heart i didn't notice
hope to die no never, we voted
me and my boyfriend cast our ballot
every kiss reads like a poem
making wrongs right like a poem

i couldn't say i dream of you
because my dreams are filled with no one
and all is lost
me and my boyfriend we found
we don't hope for beyonds at all
me and my boyfriend spend time
and that's all i'm holding on
this time

we got permission
nothing's above condition
but this ain't a thang
it's a mission

can't join the band so sing along
me and my boyfriend got it going on
sleep with fans and t shirts on
asleep in vans your legs all strewn
across my laptan lines where your watch was strapped

you took off to make time

cut your hair
you left it long
i love to stare
there's nothing wrong
and if i die while i'm asleep
i pray to God my boyfriend
keeps my secret
peace

SOURCE: THE ADVOCATE