http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
I recently added a wonderful DVD to my collection. It is called Contracorriente (Undertow) and is a must-see movie for world cinema fans; it is a gay love story set in a fishing village in Peru and tells the story of a young married fisherman’s love for a visiting painter. Movingly told and beautifully acted, it includes stunning shots of the Peruvian coastline I will definitely watch it again.
Meanwhile…
Theatre of the Absurd has been defined as theatre in which standard or naturalistic conventions of plot, characterization, and thematic structure are ignored or distorted in order to convey the irrational or fictive nature of reality and the essential isolation of humanity in a meaningless world.
Born December 21st 1945, I will be 68 this year. I’ve been the victim of several nasty homophobic scares over decades, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Sadly, in the 21st century, homophobia is still widespread among some socio-cultural-religious sections of world (including western) societies. Worse, in some ways, I feel similarly threatened by political correctness. Me, I prefer to know my enemies (allies too) not be confronted and possibly taken in by layers of camouflage and/ or stereotype.
Now, regular readers will be well aware that I see the world’s religions as among my greatest enemies, and not just because I am gay. It strikes me that more often than not they are inclined to wear masks customized with slogans like peace, love and compassion while they would see gay people (and anyone else who does not subscribe to their way of life and thought) pay the ultimate price. Not just in the southern hemisphere either. Here in the West, the same feelings fester behind a mask of political correctness. Get close enough and you can smell it, taste it on your tongue as certain people throw hypocrisy after hypocrisy at us. True, there are (many) exceptions to every rule although I fear they are a minority.
I would feel the same way even if I were not gay, not least because I am an integrationist and a man of peace. (Look at how many wars and divisions have been over religion for centuries). But yes, my sexuality reinforces my feelings towards religion.
Gay people have come a long way since the dark days of my youth. Yet, we should neither be complacent or afraid but continue to stand up and be counted so the homophobes among us know we are here to stay. Nor do we stand alone. We have many straight friends and allies (whatever their socio-cultural-religious persuasion) who may not have much time for our sexuality but have even less or bullies and hypocrites.
The incident on which this poem is based happened in 1960's London, UK. Sadly, sickeningly, homophobia among the less enlightened remains alive and kicking around the world to this day.
L-I-F-E, THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Meanwhile…
Theatre of the Absurd has been defined as theatre in which standard or naturalistic conventions of plot, characterization, and thematic structure are ignored or distorted in order to convey the irrational or fictive nature of reality and the essential isolation of humanity in a meaningless world.
Born December 21st 1945, I will be 68 this year. I’ve been the victim of several nasty homophobic scares over decades, mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Sadly, in the 21st century, homophobia is still widespread among some socio-cultural-religious sections of world (including western) societies. Worse, in some ways, I feel similarly threatened by political correctness. Me, I prefer to know my enemies (allies too) not be confronted and possibly taken in by layers of camouflage and/ or stereotype.
Now, regular readers will be well aware that I see the world’s religions as among my greatest enemies, and not just because I am gay. It strikes me that more often than not they are inclined to wear masks customized with slogans like peace, love and compassion while they would see gay people (and anyone else who does not subscribe to their way of life and thought) pay the ultimate price. Not just in the southern hemisphere either. Here in the West, the same feelings fester behind a mask of political correctness. Get close enough and you can smell it, taste it on your tongue as certain people throw hypocrisy after hypocrisy at us. True, there are (many) exceptions to every rule although I fear they are a minority.
I would feel the same way even if I were not gay, not least because I am an integrationist and a man of peace. (Look at how many wars and divisions have been over religion for centuries). But yes, my sexuality reinforces my feelings towards religion.
Gay people have come a long way since the dark days of my youth. Yet, we should neither be complacent or afraid but continue to stand up and be counted so the homophobes among us know we are here to stay. Nor do we stand alone. We have many straight friends and allies (whatever their socio-cultural-religious persuasion) who may not have much time for our sexuality but have even less or bullies and hypocrites.
The incident on which this poem is based happened in 1960's London, UK. Sadly, sickeningly, homophobia among the less enlightened remains alive and kicking around the world to this day.
“The world more
often rewards outward signs of merit than merit itself." - Francois de La Rochefoucauld
(1613 -1680)
“But above all, in order to be, never try to seem.” - Albert Camus, Notebooks, 1935-1951
L-I-F-E, THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
Suits were chanting,
‘Die, Queer! Die, Queer!’
and I could only stand there
back to a garden wall,
unable to speak a word,
paralysed with fear
They closed in on me
like wolves to an easy prey
but it wasn’t hunger I could smell
on their breaths but hate,
see it in their eyes, taste it
on my tongue
Masks, throwing stones,
yet I felt no pain, only blood
mingling freely with red hot tears
likely to leave scars
if I lived through this hell
to tell the tale
I closed my eyes
as the chanting became a roar
threatening to burst my eardrums
then - suddenly - sounds
like shooting stars trailing
light years
Now, an eerie silence
like the inside of a coffin
and I opened my eyes, unsure
if I were dead or alive,
to see three Hells Angels
crowding me
The gang had fled,
and in less than a minute
my saviours, too, sped away
without a word said,
V-signs in leather, theatre
of the absurd
Copyright R. N. Taber 1964; 2016
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