http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Of all the accusations levelled at gay people, the idea that we are ‘unnatural’ is perhaps the most hurtful. Certainly, it is the most ignorant. As I have said many times, sexuality has to be in the genes or how come there are so many gay people from all socio-cultural-religious backgrounds across the word. Many gay man and women grow up in a very gay-unfriendly environment yet still find themselves attracted to the same sex.
Never let anyone get away with suggesting we are unnatural, my friends. What is unnatural is betraying the most fundamental of humanitarian principles by inflicting hurt on those who mean no harm. Yes, I know politicians do it all the time, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow their example. The old rhyme isn’t true that says, ‘sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me.’ Names can and do hurt, terribly.
Those who call us names because they are too ignorant and/or lazy to look beyond the stereotype and see the person are beneath contempt.
This poem is a villanelle, and was originally requested by ‘Charlotte’ for her nephew Guy who is too scared to tell his devoutly religious parents that he is gay.
Good luck to Guy. But we should all remember that parents may well need time to get used to the idea. It may well be as hard for them to accept that we are gay as it can be for us to ask it of them. Sadly, it is sometimes the case when people are asked to go against what they have been taught to believe.
But gut instincts are strong, and love is the strongest of them all. Love, especially parental love, does not cave in easily, even to devout socio-cultural-religious bigotry.
WILLING CAPTIVE
Living in nature’s skin,
exploring sexuality;
willing captive within
Trying, anxiously, within,
for a new reality;
living in nature’s skin
Seeking inspiration,
a kinder morality;
willing captive within
Surpassing expectation,
risen to ecstasy;
living in nature’s skin
A sense of valediction
on our mortality;
willing captive within
A lasting benediction
on love’s complicity;
living in nature’s skin,
willing captive within
Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2014
[Note: This poem has been slightly revised from an earlier version that appears under the title ‘The Captive Heart’) in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time (by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]
Of all the accusations levelled at gay people, the idea that we are ‘unnatural’ is perhaps the most hurtful. Certainly, it is the most ignorant. As I have said many times, sexuality has to be in the genes or how come there are so many gay people from all socio-cultural-religious backgrounds across the word. Many gay man and women grow up in a very gay-unfriendly environment yet still find themselves attracted to the same sex.
Never let anyone get away with suggesting we are unnatural, my friends. What is unnatural is betraying the most fundamental of humanitarian principles by inflicting hurt on those who mean no harm. Yes, I know politicians do it all the time, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow their example. The old rhyme isn’t true that says, ‘sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me.’ Names can and do hurt, terribly.
Those who call us names because they are too ignorant and/or lazy to look beyond the stereotype and see the person are beneath contempt.
This poem is a villanelle, and was originally requested by ‘Charlotte’ for her nephew Guy who is too scared to tell his devoutly religious parents that he is gay.
Good luck to Guy. But we should all remember that parents may well need time to get used to the idea. It may well be as hard for them to accept that we are gay as it can be for us to ask it of them. Sadly, it is sometimes the case when people are asked to go against what they have been taught to believe.
But gut instincts are strong, and love is the strongest of them all. Love, especially parental love, does not cave in easily, even to devout socio-cultural-religious bigotry.
WILLING CAPTIVE
Living in nature’s skin,
exploring sexuality;
willing captive within
Trying, anxiously, within,
for a new reality;
living in nature’s skin
Seeking inspiration,
a kinder morality;
willing captive within
Surpassing expectation,
risen to ecstasy;
living in nature’s skin
A sense of valediction
on our mortality;
willing captive within
A lasting benediction
on love’s complicity;
living in nature’s skin,
willing captive within
Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2014
[Note: This poem has been slightly revised from an earlier version that appears under the title ‘The Captive Heart’) in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time (by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]
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