Dotting the 'I' in Humanity OR L-I-F-E, Choices

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

This poem deals with a subject close to my heart, and one particularly under the spotlight here in the UK at the moment as protest from some quarters grows in relation to the teaching of LGBT matters in schools being compulsory from 2020; sexuality, of course, is but one of many stereotypical closets into which certain people are quick to fit anyone "different" regardless of the fact that our differences do not make us different at all, only human.  Many young LGBT people share a home/family computer, and are reluctant to access my gay-interest blog so I am posting this post/ poem on both blogs today, especially for any readers needing to be reassured that sexuality is not a lifestyle choice for which we often blame ourselves as much (if not more so) than others are inclined to blame us. 

Now, there is good in all of us, just as there is knowledge. How we use or abuse either is more down to us that any 'extenuating circumstances' we may plead if caught out in the latter. There may well be extenuating circumstances, but guilty is as guilty does; we all have a choice. The bully, the bigot, the hypocrite, the liar, the thief...they all have choices. Sadly, they don't always appreciate what those choices are or where they may lead in the long run; all they see and hear is a Here-and-Now egging them on; peer voices, as like as not.

We all make wrong choices at some time or other in our lives, often these can be rectified, even redeemed, but we need to know how. We may choose religion, but that is only one of many choices open to us and a biased one at that. Education is not only about syllabus and curriculum; by engaging with the various fruits of science, literature, religion, whatever...we open the door to engaging with those responsible; in class, among peers, at home, in the maturing mind...wherever.  They may well be dead, these ghosts bringing scientific formulae to our attention, a memorable piece of literature, aspects of a religion... to which we can relate or not... but we gave been alerted to it, and even if it is only with examinations in mind, if it resonates with us, it will never quite go away; on the contrary, it may well alert us yet again in later years when we need to make choices in the real world.

I speak from personal experience, yes, as I often do, but also a lifetime of chatting to people from all walks of life in an attempt to discover just what makes humanity tick; there is no one answer, of course, as we are all different, and rightly so or life would not only be difficult sometimes, but permanently boring. I hated school and didn't do especially well there; it would be nearly ten years after leaving that I would go to university, and subsequently access postgraduate training. 

A psychological mess during my school years (in my 70's now) I may have done better if media, family and certain peers  saw homosexuality not only as the criminal offence it was in those days, but a deplorable if not sinful choice of life-style. Yet, I had no choice. I have always got on well with women, but was never sexually attracted to them because, by nature, I am gay. While reconciled to that at an early age, it would be some years before I would choose to be openly gay and deal with the inevitable fallout from the heterosexual majority.

Oh, and a reader complains that I repeat myself 'far  too often' in posts and poem, what do you expect after having written over 1000 poems?  I make no apologies. Hopefully, someone somewhere will relate to what I have to say, and at least engage with it, whatever points of view they subsequently choose to take. We all need to make responsible life choices from time to time, and deserve better than to be judged for them by those who happen to think we chose wrongly, invariably without any idea as to whatever prompts anyone else's actions.

DOTTING THE 'I' IN HUMANITY or L-I-F-E, CHOICES

I am that free spirit

neither shackled nor governed

by dogma or conventions

imposed by any culture, religion

or formative years

left hanging over us like a threat,

suggesting ‘needs must’ paths

to follow, no detours under pain

of sure retribution

Find me anywhere

and everywhere, seeking to pass

the time of day, engage

in lively conversation with friends

and strangers alike,

show an interest in all points

no sense of rushing 

to judgement, but mind-body-spirit

on a learning curve

Unfazed by such ears

as preferring not to hear or eyes 

choosing not to see for fear

of some unpalatable home truth

finding its mark,

breaking down worn metaphors 

of sanctuary and salvation, 

over centuries of cross-questioning

by I, the accused

I know myself for all I am and am not;

no candidate for some lonely closet 

Copyright R. N. Taber 2020