It embraces all of me, a little haloed memory.

I had come to love a boy.

Made a promise.

I spent time scampering with a strenuous argument.

In my free time I practised to be emotionally magnificent.

What could be more natural than such a promise, such a yearning after.

In my mind a question began to present:

is there difference between—are we the same as other—

do we belong together, secret neglected energy incapable of hard existence?          

No amount of persuasion could break my love or pry it from me.

Painting my happy triumph with a steady tongue,

cultivating an interest in the future for the first time.

We were physically punished.

We wore cornflowers and greeted one another with kindly enthusiasm.

I listened to him.

We became a fire.

The small way that he held my body.

The hand working a downwards movement to the shoulders.

What affected me most was an increased feeling of abandon.

Indeed I became convinced of the dissolution of a profound pain.

I became convinced.

I grew, rejoiced, was thus enlarged.

My lungs, so entirely full.
                                                                                   

(An erasure of Chapter I of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler)

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"It embraces all of me" uses as a source text the first chapter of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. I had originally set out to do erasures of the whole book; however, the prospect of actually having to read the thing became far too daunting. I was thrilled by the discovery that the first chapter of Hitler's famous hate-screed, which mostly deals with his childhood and daddy issues, offered me language with which to create a tender little gay love poem.