Epigraph:
HOMO NEST RAIDED, QUEEN BEES ARE STINGING MAD
— JERRY LISKER: New York Daily News, July 6, 1969.
Report on the raid by the Tactical Patrol Force on the Stonewall Inn,
a private gay club, at 57 Christopher Street.
Listen. Whatever we do from here on out
Let’s for God’s sake not look at each other
Keep our eyes shut and the lights turned off—
We won’t mind touching if we don’t have to see
— PHILIP WHALEN
Author's note: this cento has been composed entirely of headlines quoted verbatim from the poet's "serious" hometown broadsheet, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), over the past thirty years. Any elucidations or interpolations are indicated in square brackets and are printed in lowercase.