While I do not subscribe to any
religion, that doesn’t mean I don’t respect those - gay or straight - for whom
it is an important part of who they are and how they live. It is the
religious hypocrites and bigots I detest; they are a disgrace to their
religion. At the same time, I have met some wonderful people of various
religious persuasions who keep an open mind and heart, see neither as
incompatible with their religious beliefs, and have no problem with my sexuality.
Sadly, though - at least, in my personal
experience - they are in a minority.
Now, I was first asked to post the poem by ‘Angelo’ who had been
in touch to say how it reminds him of one night in Rome some years ago when he
was wandering the streets feeling very low after a quarrel with his boyfriend.
Apparently, the boyfriend came looking for him and they have been together ever
since ... ‘although no longer living in our beloved Italy because we grew sick
of making out we were just good friends and devout Catholics. We are Catholics,
but not hypocrites. We agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments you express in your
gay poems and feel very strongly that God does not hold our love for each other
against us.’
Feedback suggests that the majority of religious minded readers who
also happen to be gay not only seem to enjoy relating to many of my poems but
also feel reassured by the support I express in them, especially those living
in a gay-unfriendly environment. I should say, though, that others - of
various religious persuasions, usually among the heterosexual majority - have
expressed the view that I am a hypocrite (and/or worse) for even touching on
religion in my poems
Well, it is as it is…
REFLECTIONS ON A WET NIGHT
Don’t (ever) leave me alone
but take my hand, and together
we shall find our way
through this maze of wet streets,
though faces haunt us,
words taunting us like reflections
of half dead dreams
in puddles filled with hazy lamplight
that would thwart us
every step we take, each look
we care to chance, hoping
for some answers or (at the very least)
potential for safe passage
Nightmares hounding us,
stalking our every move as we cling
to each other like scared
prisoners in the dock, anxiously
anticipating that we may yet
survive any rushing to judgement
for being gay, shooting down
stereotypes, running a ghostly gamut,
(Hall of Mirrors) created
for a gullible humanity by old gods
resolved to have the final word,
last heard of acting up in some classic
Theatre of the Absurd
Old gods, new gods, tin gods,
puerile jokers, carbon copies of those
for whom we’re licking our wounds
on a wet night, all but ready
to take a new dawn into our confidence,
trust it may see less bigotry
than before, a heavenly descant
at the ear, misty rain drawing back
its curtain as if in celebration
of a skylark's cheery dropping in
on a common humanity
free to embrace life, love, and peace,
no matter who or where
Copyright R. N. Taber 2007; 2013
[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in Accomplices To Illusion by
R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]
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