Undercover OR Gay in Saint Lucia

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

Although I don’t publish comment (good or bad) readers sometimes include their email address in the Comments box and I am always happy to reply. Such was the case only recently from a gay reader who felt he had no choice but to leave the paradise island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean  because of an LGBT-unfriendly policy making such relationships likely to face a significant prison sentence on conviction.

Gros Islet and Rodney Bay as seen from Pigeon Island (Wikipedia)

This poem is a villanelle.

UNDERCOVER or GAY IN SAINT LUCIA

Calypso, bending the ear like no other,
an ages-old paradise for many,
where LGBT locals gone undercover

Trad cuisine, making the mouth water,
cherished customs running free;
Calypso, bending the ear like no other

LGBT rights making no one's agenda,
boasting fine schools and university,
where LGBT locals living undercover

A book failing to live up to its cover,
(heads in the sands of its history)
Calypso, bending the ear like no other

Apollo charging us to love each other
(prejudice as far as the eye can see)
where LGBT locals living undercover

For paradise, substitute an ivory tower,
rejecting gay and gender identity;
Calypso, bending the ear like no other
where LGBT locals living undercover

Copyright R. N. Taber 2018