http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
[Update Jan 25th 2019]: More on The Black Cap in the campaign to re-open one of the oldest gay venues in the UK:
Fingers crossed... as too many gay bars are closing. Meanwhile, homophobia is alive and kicking. Gay and gay-friendly men and women will always need somewhere to meet, drink, and have fun in a safe environment. There are plenty of us, for goodness sake. No gay bar needs to go to the wall.]
Meanwhile...
Now, although gay relationships were decriminalised here in the UK in 1967, it was not until the late 1990's that attitudes began to soften towards us. I have to say that now I have that sinking again as multiculturalism is slowly but surely turning the clock backwards. Regular readers will know that I have nothing against multiculturalism in principle; on the contrary, I would welcome it with open arms, but for the fact that so many people from various socio-cultural-religious backgrounds have not only brought their native prejudices - including homophobia - to the UK but also appear to be nurturing them; if it is a minority, it is a very significant and increasingly vocal one. Thank goodness for an openhearted, open minded majority, and long may it remain one.
Now, time spent looking for close encounters of the intimate kind can sometimes result in BIG disappointments. (Oh, and how!) Ah, yes, but it only takes one unforgettable moment on one unforgettable occasion with one unforgettable person to make up for all of them...
CHANCE MEETING
In a smoky gloom,
I watched you standing there,
idly running cruisy fingers
through hair kissed by stray sunshine
flickering through shutters
set to glower the world outside,
nursing us on the inside
to a comfortable anonymity,
and you glanced at me
then flung your eyes back into a pool
of drowning men
shrieking so if silently for rescue
despite dog-paddle gestures
defying their distress like the rhythm
of a hit pop song pulling at heart strings
repudiating our loneliness
Gathering up a casual air,
I spoke to you, let the lilt of your voice
wash over me like a friendly
shower after a bad dream as we talked
comfortably while loud music
screened all ghosts from us, inciting
a temporary deliverance;
we went outside into a gentler
conspiracy of noon sounds
urging us to hurry to a kinder place
where my hands may freely frame
your face, my lips on yours, your body
answering mine, all threat receding,
life forces we had all but given up on
now reconciling with body, mind and spirit,
turning us inside out
Copyright R. N. Taber 1998; 2012
[Note: This poem has been (slightly) revised from an earlier version that has appeared in several poetry magazines before and since I included it in 1st eds. of Love and Human Remains by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2001; revised ed. in e-format in preparation.]
[Update Jan 25th 2019]: More on The Black Cap in the campaign to re-open one of the oldest gay venues in the UK:
Fingers crossed... as too many gay bars are closing. Meanwhile, homophobia is alive and kicking. Gay and gay-friendly men and women will always need somewhere to meet, drink, and have fun in a safe environment. There are plenty of us, for goodness sake. No gay bar needs to go to the wall.]
Meanwhile...
Now, time spent looking for close encounters of the intimate kind can sometimes result in BIG disappointments. (Oh, and how!) Ah, yes, but it only takes one unforgettable moment on one unforgettable occasion with one unforgettable person to make up for all of them...
CHANCE MEETING
In a smoky gloom,
I watched you standing there,
idly running cruisy fingers
through hair kissed by stray sunshine
flickering through shutters
set to glower the world outside,
nursing us on the inside
to a comfortable anonymity,
and you glanced at me
then flung your eyes back into a pool
of drowning men
shrieking so if silently for rescue
despite dog-paddle gestures
defying their distress like the rhythm
of a hit pop song pulling at heart strings
repudiating our loneliness
Gathering up a casual air,
I spoke to you, let the lilt of your voice
wash over me like a friendly
shower after a bad dream as we talked
comfortably while loud music
screened all ghosts from us, inciting
a temporary deliverance;
we went outside into a gentler
conspiracy of noon sounds
urging us to hurry to a kinder place
where my hands may freely frame
your face, my lips on yours, your body
answering mine, all threat receding,
life forces we had all but given up on
now reconciling with body, mind and spirit,
turning us inside out
Copyright R. N. Taber 1998; 2012
[Note: This poem has been (slightly) revised from an earlier version that has appeared in several poetry magazines before and since I included it in 1st eds. of Love and Human Remains by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2001; revised ed. in e-format in preparation.]
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