http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
[Update July 28th 2020]: It is nine years since I posted this poem on the blog, yet still there are LGBT folks around the world living infear of theirsexuality being 'exposed, made by blinkered societies and communities to live in that dark, lonely closet that was once my own personal space many years ago. True, we are winning hearts and minds in some parts of the world, but our hopes lie with our young people, many if not most of whom take others as they find them, and if they get along, it really doesn't matter whether or not sexuality comesinto the equation. Tragically, though, we still have a very long way to go before we are - all of us - accepted for who, not what we are; just as there is more than our sexuality to any LGBT person, so there is invariably more than meets the eye to each and every one of us, whatever our socio-cultural-religious or ethnic background, wherever in the world we may be.]
I am often accused of being too simplistic in my poems. Simple, yes, more often than not, but simplistic is a criticism I reject. [Well, I would, wouldn’t I?] I don’t want people to read a poem of mine only to scratch their heads, wondering what it’s all about. I said as much to a university lecturer once and he had a go at me for not having a ‘scholarly enough’ approach to poetry. Needless to say, I took it as a compliment.
Meanwhile, here’s a poem with a simple message; some words teach and some of us learn so that both can live on as part and parcel of a positive thinking mindset...
G-A-Y, OPENING UP TO A POSITIVE THINKING MINDSET
There are two little words
it took me a while to learn to say,
put a smile on my face,
feel better about myself each day,
making my life good
in spite of some I knew who would
try to put me down,
come what may, for a little words
they hear with dismay,
but I’m not scared anymore to say
so they can take or leave
my love, friendship, all I have to give,
since one little word
showed me how to live and be free
of the secrets and pain
I’d weep over time and time again,
hating to sleep even,
for fear of waking up to a winter rain
even in summertime
Those two little words, needless to say
are, yes, "I'm gay ..."
Copyright R. N. Taber 2008
[Update July 28th 2020]: It is nine years since I posted this poem on the blog, yet still there are LGBT folks around the world living infear of theirsexuality being 'exposed, made by blinkered societies and communities to live in that dark, lonely closet that was once my own personal space many years ago. True, we are winning hearts and minds in some parts of the world, but our hopes lie with our young people, many if not most of whom take others as they find them, and if they get along, it really doesn't matter whether or not sexuality comesinto the equation. Tragically, though, we still have a very long way to go before we are - all of us - accepted for who, not what we are; just as there is more than our sexuality to any LGBT person, so there is invariably more than meets the eye to each and every one of us, whatever our socio-cultural-religious or ethnic background, wherever in the world we may be.]
I am often accused of being too simplistic in my poems. Simple, yes, more often than not, but simplistic is a criticism I reject. [Well, I would, wouldn’t I?] I don’t want people to read a poem of mine only to scratch their heads, wondering what it’s all about. I said as much to a university lecturer once and he had a go at me for not having a ‘scholarly enough’ approach to poetry. Needless to say, I took it as a compliment.
Meanwhile, here’s a poem with a simple message; some words teach and some of us learn so that both can live on as part and parcel of a positive thinking mindset...
G-A-Y, OPENING UP TO A POSITIVE THINKING MINDSET
There are two little words
it took me a while to learn to say,
put a smile on my face,
feel better about myself each day,
making my life good
in spite of some I knew who would
try to put me down,
come what may, for a little words
they hear with dismay,
but I’m not scared anymore to say
so they can take or leave
my love, friendship, all I have to give,
since one little word
showed me how to live and be free
of the secrets and pain
I’d weep over time and time again,
hating to sleep even,
for fear of waking up to a winter rain
even in summertime
Those two little words, needless to say
are, yes, "I'm gay ..."
Copyright R. N. Taber 2008
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