#princeofpuke

from the first time i laid eyes on a john waters trashterpiece, i was hooked. the prince of puke and the entire band of dreamlanders taught a very tiny and unconfused queer me that i could be simultaneously beautiful and disgusting. divine, of course, was a huge part of that. today, i got the chance to visit his grave in towson, MD and pay my respects. on the way up the hill to the cemetery gates, someone in a car full of college kids screamed “faggot” at me. fitting.

i left the only thing i had in my wallet besides plastic, a business card given to me by a drunk japanese man on a plane from tokyo to LA. he said he was running for office of some sort. maybe. i was also very drunk and stumbling through japanese as best i could. it was a very Waters moment; i think Divine would’ve been proud.

before leaving, i gave the headstone a big kiss and carved the words “live filthy, die” into it, letting the icon’s name finish out the sentence.

Thank you for the years of entertainment and inspiration, Divine. I hope you’re still scaring up a storm wherever you are now.