An LGBT Pocket History

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

I have no idea when I wrote today’s poem. I recently discovered it (undated) in a pile of potential rubbish for the next recycling collection.  (Hopefully, I have not since reworked and given it a different title.) I suspect it was written sometime during the mid-late 1990’s.  Whatever, it is as relevant now as it was then. Who knows where a chance encounter with a stranger may lead, and if there is a clearly a mutual attraction, why not GO for it…?

A (straight) friend once commented, 'There is something very comforting about sex. Whatever, it has to be the best form of creative therapy invented..." Who am I to argue?

Whether a person is gay or straight, much the same principle applies although - yes, even in this 21st century of ours - it can be a tougher decision for any gay person who, for whatever reason, feels unable to go public about his or her sexuality.

AN LGBT POCKET HISTORY

Meeting by chance, noon sun

like an acid drop in a stormy sky;

crow, pausing in mid-flight

to stare. Ghosts in the wind, lonely

and eager for romance, though

time deny the finer fruit that only

lovers share

Highlights in the hair, a sparkle

in the eyes, frantic lips on mine,

world ceasing to turn for us;

ghosts all around us crying, ‘YES’

and each kiss, the spoils of a motley

that’s a waking dream, ours if we

but dare

Defying bigotry’s menacing look,

I gladly take your arm, find shelter

in a barn, madly returning

each caress as ghosts, warned off

in times past for their sexuality,

warm up for what promises to be

a brave new century

Bed of straw, magic of clowns

ringing in the ears, we’ll play out

life’s circus, confront our fears,

our heaven the laughter and tears

of other people’s ghosted years,

reaching for clear skies, further even

than the crow flies 

Winging history’s cruel divide,

gay and proud…

Copyright R. N. Taber c1990’s

Chance Meeting

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

[Update Jan 25th 2019]: More on The Black Cap in the campaign to re-open one of the oldest gay venues in the UK:

https://www.change.org/p/the-new-owners-of-the-black-cap-reopen-the-black-cap/u/23937802?s_tk=Agc3wqRCQSleAdq6TVwAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvLQoloI6mH74pLuPk0flDZU%3D&utm_campaign=e4e4164373794ef48ed0205e9aaee85e&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs 

Fingers crossed... as too many gay bars are closing. Meanwhile, homophobia is alive and kicking. Gay and gay-friendly men and women will always need somewhere to meet, drink, and have fun in a safe environment. There are plenty of us, for goodness sake. No gay bar needs to go to the wall.]

Meanwhile...

Now, although gay relationships were decriminalised here in the UK in 1967, it was not until the late 1990's that attitudes began to soften towards us.  I have to say that now I have that sinking again as multiculturalism is slowly but surely turning the clock backwards. Regular readers will know that I have nothing against multiculturalism in principle; on the contrary, I would welcome it with open arms, but for the fact that so many people from various socio-cultural-religious backgrounds have not only brought their native prejudices - including homophobia - to the UK but also appear to be nurturing them; if it is a minority, it is a very significant and increasingly vocal one. Thank goodness for an openhearted, open minded majority, and long may it remain one.

Now, time spent looking for close encounters of the intimate kind can sometimes result in BIG disappointments. (Oh, and how!) Ah, yes, but it only takes one unforgettable moment on one unforgettable occasion with one unforgettable person to make up for all of them...

CHANCE MEETING

In a smoky gloom,
I watched you standing there,
idly running cruisy fingers
through hair kissed by stray sunshine
flickering through shutters
set to glower the world outside,
nursing us on the inside
to a comfortable anonymity,
and you glanced at me
then flung your eyes back into a pool
of drowning men
shrieking so if silently for rescue
despite dog-paddle gestures
defying their distress like the rhythm
of a hit pop song pulling at heart strings
repudiating our loneliness

Gathering up a casual air,
I spoke to you, let the lilt of your voice
wash over me like a friendly
shower after a bad dream as we talked
comfortably while loud music
screened all ghosts from us, inciting
a temporary deliverance;
we went outside into a gentler
conspiracy of noon sounds
urging us to hurry to a kinder place
where my hands may freely frame
your face, my lips on yours, your body
answering mine, all threat receding,
life forces we had all but given up on
now reconciling with body, mind and spirit,
turning us inside out

Copyright R. N. Taber 1998; 2012

[Note: This poem has been (slightly) revised from an earlier version that has appeared in several poetry magazines before and since I included it in 1st eds. of Love and Human Remains by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2001; revised ed. in e-format in preparation.]