I'm Italy Mona, and this is The Slowdown.

About 10 years ago, I led a group of people around New York's West Village on a poetry

tour.

The tour included stops of the homes of Emma Lazarus, Elizabeth Bishop, Mary Ann Moore,

Hart Crane, and Junabarns. Junabarns lived on Patch and Place, a small,

tree-lined cul-de-sac of brick apartments on West 10, between 6th Avenue and Greenwich.

Her neighbor was none other than E.E. Cummings.

One of the tidbits that I always loved was that when he found her reclusive behavior

worrisome, he'd shout out the window, are used to live Junabarns, called herself the most

famous unknown in the world. But throughout the years, her poetry, her novels, and her plays

have lived on. Barnes had love affairs with both men and women, and though her legacy

and importance within the queer community is clear, she's also known for her quote,

I'm not a lesbian, I just love Thelma.

As June marks Pride Month, and New York and the West Village are readying for its epic parades

and parties, I'd like to think about how many different ways there are to be in the world.

Junabarns wanted to push against labels, and in doing so, made some of the most

beloved lesbian literature we have today. But Barnes also wanted to write about wild things,

the natural world. Her curiosity and intelligence could not be pigeonholed by critics or publishers

alike. Today's poem is a favorite Junabarns poem of mine, because it follows the life of the animals,

and by way of that, lets us have our own place among them.

Pastoral by Junabarns

A frog leaps out across the lawn and crouches there, all heavy and alone, and like a blossom,

...