Reviewed by Lauren Walters
It’s not news that Christianity can be an undoubtedly fraught subject for many queer individuals and writers. Historically, Christian ideologies and various translations of Christian texts have been used to further marginalize queer populations and oust them from religious organizations. However, rather than looking at the scriptures often used to justify discrimination against queer individuals, the poem “Church Gossip” by Soon Jones comments on a more implicit but no less harmful manifestation of faith-based judgment: that imparted by the self-proclaimed God-fearing do-gooders in the church community who delight in passing microaggressions as well-intended advice and disguising gossip sessions as expressions of concern. In their poem, Jones highlights the inherent violence in this practice and offers a subtle resistance.
The poem finds its genesis in the image of a towel being wrung out, through which the speaker translates the oft-spoken sentiments of church gossip into physical sensations. The lines “twist me, why don’t you, / a wet towel between your hands” suggest a particular violence with an intent to shape, an attempt to squeeze a person out of their own being. The speaker of Jones’s poem demonstrates that this gossip is not just simply gossip; underpinning all of the whispers is a complex form of cruelty: gossip moves beyond words and becomes an apparatus to enforce heteronormativity. The apparatus is concealed as prayer and concern.
Jones builds upon this initial image with parallel images later in the poem. These later images continue to illuminate this smoldering violence, allowing it to become more explicit as the poem progress. Employing the active imperative voice, the speaker says, “Choke me until I recant / and reclaim your bitter god” and summons a much more direct depiction of cruelty. Here, the speaker juxtaposes one form of violence with another, removing the capacity for readers to see church gossip as anything else and stomping out room for excuses claiming misguided but good intentions. The grammatical construction of these lines implies command rather than description, exemplifying the force of the church scandalmongers, but also a sense of autonomy on behalf of the speaker. This is not a request—it is a dare.
Examining the practices and prescriptions of these unsolicited missionaries, Jones suggests the gossipers’ unrequested counsel, though adamantly pushed, is fruitless. The speaker wryly implores the church gossipers to continue their attempts of forcing conformity on the speaker, knowing that it is a losing game. Taunting, “Shake me until the tattoos / fall off my chest,” the speaker hints that the desired results are unattainable despite the gossipers’ best efforts. The speaker finds a quiet rebellion in the immutability of their identity; despite the violence and force, the end goal is impossible.
Soon Jones’s poem “Church Gossip” produces an unforgiving depiction and scalding critique of practices often excused in religious communities. Through the construction of intensifying images and astute attention to grammatical structure, Jones creates a poem that uncovers the deeper harm of church gossip, but ultimately finds a sense of hopeful resistance in the practice’s futility.
You can read Soon Jones’s poem “Chuch Gossip” in beestung, a quarterly micro-magazine publishing the works of non-binary writers. For more of Soon Jones’s writing, see https://soonjones.carrd.co/
Lauren Walters is an English and creative writing major at Lebanon Valley College. Beyond her studies, she also serves as the prose editor for Green Blotter, works as a writing tutor, and creates social media content for various organizations across campus. When she’s not reading and writing for class, you’ll likely find her reading and writing for fun, talking to herself, or having opinions about things at @l_ann18 on Twitter.