More Sinned against than Sinning

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

Just because I take my spirituality from nature rather than from religion doesn’t mean I don’t have every respect for those who find their spirituality elsewhere. While I may not believe in a personified God…what’s in a name?

My argument is not with religion but with a predilection for sheer hypocrisy that many of its followers frequently demonstrate by denying gay people the right to not only live in peace but also within the parameters of whatever religion they choose to follow. As I have said many times…take the humanity out of religion and all you have is a dogma and ritual that are precious little more than ornamental.

In a Channel 4 Despatches program about the persecution of gay people in many parts of Africa, one interviewee made the important point that it was not  homosexuality but homophobia the West brought to Africa. I agree. In particular, Christian fundamentalism has a lot to answer for.

A reader of African origin (he doesn’t say where) sent in a tragic tale on which I have based this poem, written for those gay people across the world still persecuted by socio-cultural-religious bigots who claim to speak with this ‘higher authority’ or that. 

Tragically, many followers of religion put their leaders on a pedestal, accepting their bigotry as gospel. Thankfully, though, there are many others with open hearts and minds that know better.

MORE SINNED AGAINST THAN SINNING 

We kept our secret for years;

no one guessed we were lovers

till one day someone

walked in on us, discovered us

making love, as people do;

hours later, someone set fire

to our home, thinking

we cowered fearfully inside

but already we had found

a place to hide, yet knew we’d be

tracked down, only a matter

of time before human decency lost

and religious bigotry won

Why should we be on the run,

who had done no harm to anyone,

lovers who just happen

to be two men, forced to live

on borrowed time in a community

corrupted by religious bigotry?

Spawn of the Devil they call us,

so-called Christians who, in their turn,

can but call on Leviticus,

conveniently forgetting how Jesus

came to bring Light,

to the world, not Terror serving

some darker power

No hungrier for power than those

who see themselves as better than us

who simply get on with our lives,

discovering in our love for each other

a dream that lasts forever;

no lonelier, in reality, than the teacher

tortured by self-delusion,

hell bent upon turning even the stuff

of religious conviction

into tragic illusion for having chosen

to side with its destruction…

until a sleeplessness that lasts forever

in the grip of Earth Mother

Copyright R. N. Taber 2012; 2016

[Note: This poem first appears under the title 'No Case to Answer' in Tracking the Torchbearer 
by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2012]

Getting the Better of Bad Attitude

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

A neighbour once spotted my poetry readings on You Tube and  told me I should be ashamed of myself for comments along the lines that homosexuality is not a matter of choice but the sexuality with which we are born and should not be considered unnatural. He takes the view that homosexuality is 'as unnatural as it gets.' Oh, well, it's true what they say. You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all the time. [Do I care?]

Until 1967, gay relationships were illegal here in the UK. We should not forget that in some parts of the world they still are, even here in the so-called ‘liberal’ West. Gay people whose family origins are rooted in a culture intrinsically hostile to same sex relationships have as tough a time now as many of us did years ago. It all depends whether or not we are growing up in a gay-friendly environment. Those of us who are comfortable with being openly gay should not rush to judge those who feel obliged – for whatever reason – to stay in the damn closet.

Someone contacted me after reading this poem in my collection borrowed from a public library to ask, ‘How can being gay possibly have anything to do with our spiritual identity and well-being as God intended?’ Well, if he (or she) reads either of my poetry blogs or any of my other collection it should be clear that we don’t share the same concept of God. I take a sense of spirituality from nature, not religion. Why? Well, as regular know only too well, it is because nature doesn’t discriminate between this sense of identity or that. The reader only gave a screen name, and my email bounced back when I tried to reply. (Could I have touched a nerve, I ask myself?)

True, sexual identity is only a part of a whole, but it is integral to who we are and how we live our lives; if we need a strategy for identity at all, it is (surely?) taking pride in that and finding the self-confidence to carry on regardless.

Being gay is no crime; what is criminal and inexcusable is using hate as a weapon to justify violence against others; it has to be among the very worst of human failings, invariably a cowardly expression of frustrations and shortcomings that do not bear close self-scrutiny by the perpetrators for fear of their being made to confront them. 

Gay bashing is not the only form of hate crime, of course, and no civilized society- or community - should tolerate it in any shape or form.

GETTING THE BETTER OF BAD ATTITUDE

Once, being gay was a crime,

g-a-y not invented for sexual identity,

dictionary meaning 'strikingly pretty’

while ‘homosexual’ the more polite term

in village, town, and city

Invariably, we would hear

queer, pouf, homo, fag or even shirt-lifter

hurled as a term of (everyday) abuse

at anyone even suspected of harbouring

intimate thoughts and desires

towards a same sex lover (real or fantasy)

daring (heaven forbid) to light fires

in the hearts of those others

who, too, longed to dive under covers

and be true (if well out of sight)

to a secret self dying to tell all and burst

into orgasm, forced instead to follow

convention, be seen to live 

a ‘normal’ life (whatever that might be) 

according to criteria laid down 

by a society verging on hysteria for its inability 

to see woods for trees 

or its so-called betters for their hypocrisies 

but, rather, preferring to take 

the moral high, cite this or that religion-speak,

cross the street rather than chance 

looking a suspect homosexual in the eye, 

acknowledge his or her right 

to draw breath in a world forever

heard protesting that a common humanity 

actually exists

Alas, bigotry persists, old prejudices

as likely to win the day as new laws meant

to embrace, reaffirm, and reinforce

a basic Human Right to live and let live,

gay or straight

Time passes, and bad attitudes (hopefully);

no room (ever) for complacency

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010; 2016

[Note: This poem has been slightly revised (2013) and the title revised (2016) from an earlier version as it appears as 'A Strategy for Identity' in On the Battlefields of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010.] 

The Last Chameleon

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

Never, but never give up on love. Many of us do just that. (Gay people perhaps a shade more easily than our heterosexual counterparts?)  Whatever, there are, of course, exceptions to every rule (especially the self-imposed variety) in which we should all take heart.

It is invariably those critics convinced they have our best interests at heart that will do their best to obstruct us by raising the worst of daunting barriers, whether it be colour, creed, sex, sexuality or even ageism. 

By all means, let's look before we leap if only so we can be as sure as far as we can be sure of anything or anyone where we will land, and what we are likely to find there.  

Fallen out with love? Oh, but let's prove the cynics wrong who insist Happy-Ever-After is just a fairy tale, and GO for it... 

THE LAST CHAMELEON

Never thought to fall in love again,

as time passes like kisses in the rain,

sunlight on the sea, moonbeams

chasing shadows, just as we would,

he and I, long gone, a dream to cherish

though desire all but perished, a fire

left to smoulder as I grew older - until

I met you

At first glance, extinguished flames

leapt and began dancing a light fantastic

on my heart, feeding its sleeping coals,

storming my defences, ravishing me

where I stand for just holding your hand,

engaging your smile, old gods laughing

at my heartbeat’s mad leaping, your voice

washing over me, watching lips move

I so long to kiss, wondering what to say,

to let you know I mean every word,

how it's you inspiring me, conspiring

with a stirring sexuality, no thought

even of teasing you, only pleasing you,

blood coursing older veins than yours,

winging fair Avalon’s towers in the poetry

of our being together

Love, soulmates, lifelines joined together

or meant to pass at tangents to each other,

(whatever, fate will have its way with us);

Happy, wishful, ecstatic, a roller coaster

running madly, truly, deeply, every moment

well worth the sharing, caring, giving,

and taking that is love in all shapes and forms,

chameleon thought lost, home at last

Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2012

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in A Feeling For The Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005.]

G-A-Y, The Next Generation

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

Regular readers will know that I include poems on a gay theme in general rather than specifically gay poetry collections. All my books are divided into sections, including a gay section, although in later years I have included more gay-interest poems in other sections too.

Now and then (straight) people get in touch to complain that they found a title of mine on their local public library shelves and were shocked and/or disgusted to discover it included gay material. All I can say is that they are not genuine poetry lovers (as well as being bigots) because a poem is a poem is a poem, whatever its theme.

Similarly, of course, people are people are people, whatever their sexuality, which is precisely the point I am making by not publishing my gay-interest poems separately. Fortunately, my titles sell well (for poetry) and most readers seem to enjoy the variety of gay and general poems, in various poetic forms, set out in seven easy-to-read sections.

Oh, and on the subject of approval and disapproval...

Yesterday, I was delighted to spot two young men, plainly in love, walking hand in hand down a street near where I live. Some people gave them funny looks but most paid them scant if any attention at all. I thought, how nice, and how different to when I was a young man more years ago than I care to remember! Hopefully, a day will come when gay men and women can walk down any street in any part of the world, hold hands and even pause for a kiss the way heterosexual couples do (all the time) here in the West.

Those countries whose leaders disapprove of and even persecute gay men and women need to come into the 21st century. They won’t be able to hide behind various misinterpretations of various Holy Books forever either. As for those arrogant, puffed-up evangelical Christians, Jesus of Nazareth would be ashamed of them. Jesus was a great advocate of humanity. As I have said before, take the humanity out of any religion and all the prayer and ritual that’s left becomes meaningless. [I may not be a religious person, but I was raised one and know my Holy Bible; friends who follow various religions assure me there is nothing homophobic in their Holy Literature although, rather like statistics, words can be made to say anything that suits if you really put your mind to it.]

After the joy of being in love, the next best feeling in the world has to be letting everyone know it, even (if not especially) those most likely to disapprove. Disapproval, my mother used to say, is invariably a synonym for jealousy. Whatever their sexual persuasion, people in love are invariably happy. Some people just cannot bear to see other people happy if only because it causes them to reflect on their own miserable existence.

G-A-Y, THE NEXT GENERATION

As we walked down

my street together, you held my hand;

people flung us dirty looks,

because they didn’t understand

about falling in love

Outside my front door,

you gave me a big hug and kissed me;

passers-by made rude noises

because they didn’t have a clue

about falling in love

As I fumbled for my key,

you shouted to the street how you felt

about me, and neighbours

turned up their noses at us because

it’s what they do best

As I closed the door after us,

children playing hopscotch in the street

waved a cheery ‘hello’

as if warning us to take no notice

of their stuffy parents

Once inside, we ran upstairs,

laughingly, carefree, still hand in hand,

shutting out a world

that didn’t want to understand

gay men falling in love

Copyright R. N. Taber 2011

Keeping the Faith

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

Many gay people are still growing up and living their lives in a gay-unfriendly environment so reconciling themselves to being gay is far from easy; they are haunted (as I was as a youth and young man) by stereotypes that continue to attach themselves to gay men and women across the world.

Some of us manage to break free of the sexual identity imposed on us by formative years in schools (and families) hostile to gay relationships.

Sadly, many don’ …

Sexuality has to be in the genes or how come killions of LGBT people around the world, from all walks of life ... ? It is high time certain cultures and world religions acknowledged this and ceased rto persecute gay people, forcing them to choose between keeping up appearances and living a closet existence or the freedom any mind-body-spirit deserves. Religions of the world preach peace and love to all. Excluding gay and transgender men and women, boys and girls and refusing to accept the  integrity of our sexuakity is nothing less than sheer hypocrisy.

As you know, I am not a religious person, but of this I remain certain ... God is no homophobe.

KEEPING  THE FAITH

A man may try to love a woman,

and does, but the heart always knows

if it lies

My heart sang songs without words

for keeping faith with its tears

as it went through all the motions

of passion but none came even close 

to true love

A man may try not to love man,

but does and the heart, it always knows

why it cries (for all it has missed)

and will sing songs about secrets and lies,

but no one ever hears

as it goes through all the motions

of paying lip service to such stereotypes

bigots perpetuate

Yet, to love takes two and a heart

beating true can no more resist another

than time its tides, chipping away

at a heart made of clay moulded in the image

of its ‘betters’

When he and I kiss, my heart sings

songs of joy, for (finally) keeping faith

with being gay

Copyright R. N. Taber 2013

Know Your Enemy OR Rising Above the Rhetoric

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

Some readers have said they would like to read some of my poems again but either can’t find them on the blogs or haven’t time to look; the quickest way is to enter a less obvious keyword in the search field - e.g. education, families, history, human nature, human spirit, mind-body-spirit, positive thinking, self-awareness and any others that catch you eye when coming across a poem you particularly like and/or can relate to.

Meanwhile…

Political correctness is a good thing in many ways, but can be such a pain sometimes, responsible as it is for many people being afraid to say what they really think; in public, anyway. For example, I would rather know if someone is a homophobe or how am I to know he or she is an enemy?  More importantly, how am I supposed to know, unless people are honest with me, that I need to encourage them to develop a more human, positive, responsible attitude towards gay people?  The chances are, they are still very hung up on outdated, misleading and invariably offensive stereotypes.

Gay or straight, there is a lot to be said for making a friend of an enemy; it has to be the best Public Relations ever gets on any field of play.  Ah, yes, but you have to know your enemy first.

Tragically, for many gay people around the world, it is only too clear who the enemy is.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY or RISING ABOVE THE RHETORIC

Some people say there can be no safe haven

for gay men and women in a place (or metaphor)

they think of as ‘Heaven’

Some people say no God would ever tolerate

the kind of so-called ‘sin’ perpetrated by the likes  

of gay men and women

Some people say Holy Books are a measure

of spirituality compensating for any open-minded

take on homosexuality

So who are they that so love to pit humankind

against its own on the grounds of this socio-culture

or that religion?

So who are they who rail against those gay men

and women who are but as we are, and by nature’s

rule not ours?

So who are they who say they side with doves

of peace, and then go to war with such honourable

intentions?

Let them speak who claim to know how God

will have his way with men and women who happen

to be gay

Let them speak who would rail against those

of us who are gay, and don’t let political correctness

win the day

Let them speak who say gays cannot be forgiven

for, oh, such a sin on the grounds of this socio-culture

or that religion

No matter who or where, all humankind deserves

a voice, gay folks too, each of us gifted with a feeling

for freedom

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010; 2011