Hello again from London UK

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

Hello again from London UK

Several readers have asked me to publish more gay-specific poems on the blog, and I will try, but am not well these days. Anyone interested can access earlier gay-interest poems in the archives by hitting the little arrow beside the blog title in the top right hand corner of any post; you can also access my fiction blog this way which includes both gay and general novels.

Some LGBT readers - especially any who find themselves still trapped in a closet - might enjoy the last poem to appear on my general blog, A Mind of One' Own; it is about trusting your own instincts and being careful from whom you take well-meaning advice. Too many people we trust, give advice according to what they would do in a particular situation. 

I was advised not to "stir up a hornet's nest" among family, friends and work colleagues in my 20's and bitterly regret not trusting my own feelings then but waiting until my 30's before being open about being gay.

If a friend or loved one rejects another because he or she is gay, they were never a friend in the first place. Sadly many heterosexuals among us still don't get it...

In the closet or out of it, life can still be tough for LGBT folk even in what should, by now, be a more positive-thinking, open-minded 21st century; up to a point it may well be so, but up to a point isn't good enough. Well, is it...?  I happen to know several people who are afraid to come out to their families and friends because the whole LGBT ethic offends their religion. While not attacking anyone's religion or deeply held beliefs as such, I do have to ask what is the purpose of any religion that would have its followers reject another simply for being who they are, not out of choice but because of their genetic history; should we LGBT folks be blamed for the latter as well?

On reader who clearly never browses my general poetry blog, asks why I don't raise these issues there, but of course, I do quite often; in many poems too, that are not gay-specific. The gay poetry blog  is after all, as its title suggest and addresses a specific readership. As for myself, I am not going to be dictated to as to what poems I write, either by my own sexuality or anyone else's.; the same applies to my attempts at writing fiction, although I have to confess I did not prove to have such an aptitude for it as I'd hoped. 😉

I have enjoyed writing fiction, though, and feedback suggests others have enjoyed reading it, so... that's reward enough for me. I may once have nursed dreams of fame and fortune, but was never one to cry over spilt milk, so was none too bothered when neither materialised in the manner of any dreams. As Robert Louis Stevenson suggested: "To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." (Virginibus Puerisque,1881.) Besides, nothing, including fame and fortune, is ever quite how it is portrayed  by various media which, in turn, brings to mind  another old truism along the lines that none of us knows quite what goes on behind closed doors.  The rich and famous are only human, after all, and life is no less likely to have its ups and downs for them as for the rest of us.😉

Need to rest now. It is inly mid-afternoon here in the UK, but while growing old doesn't have to be a major issue in itself when like, yours truly, you are having to contend with various health issues as well, it is no picnic...😉 Even so, I continue to keep looking on the bright(er) side of  life and urge you to do the same; never easy at any age, but the alternative is we spend our lives peering into The Abyss while life itself passes us by...

Bye for now, folks, and many thanks for dropping by. Hopefully, I will publish another poem here before too long, but am not making any promises now as I have no more idea what may lie around the next corner than anyone else...

Take care, keep safe and be sure to treat those who show they care for you with the love and respect they deserve,

Hugs ,

Roger x  x