Thursday, 22 March 2012

Going By The Book

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

While I do not subscribe to any religion, neither do I doubt that ‘God’ is no homophobe. It is a very foolish person that will tell you otherwise, someone with but a tenuous grasp on the basic precepts of religion; peace and love.  [What is all the ritual really worth without either?] 

Too many people choose to interpret the various Holy Books for their own bigoted ends while others prefer to court popularity by presenting an apparently united front that has to be hypocrisy at its very worst. 

GOING BY THE BOOK

I stood at the Gates of Love
asking to be let in;
a security guard refused,
said I’d committed a sin
and he could not see his way
to admitting someone
openly, unashamedly, gay

I stood at the Gates of Love
demanding to be let in,
wanting to know just why
such as I should be
refused entry now or ever
because of such bigotry
this whole, sorry world over

I stood at the Gates of Love
pleading to be let in
but, unmoved by my tears,
the security guard insisted
he hadn‘t the slightest intention
of opening up to someone
daring to question convention

I stood at the Gates of Love,
about to turn away
when I heard a firm voice say,
‘Open the gate
and let him in immediately.
Love has no quarrel
with colour, creed or sexuality.’

I entered the Gates of Salvation,
its Voice seeking no explanation


Copyright R. N. Taber 1964; 2010 

[Note: This poem was written in 1964, rediscovered and slightly revised in 2010.]

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