Footprints in the Snow

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

Today's entry is from my general poetry blog archives for December 2011.

‘Karin and Tomas’ have asked me to repeat 'my video links'. They do not say which one/s so here is the link to my You Tube channel and the link to my (very informal) poetry reading on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square as my contribution to Antony Gormley's One and Other 'live sculpture' project  in 2009. [The You Tube clips are only a few minutes, but the One and Other video lasts an hour.] I hope you will enjoy them, and will be able to watch in an Internet cafe since you appear not to have a home computer

http://www.youtube.com/rogerNtaber

http://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100223121732/oneandother.co.uk/participants/Roger_T  [NB: Sept 19, 2019 - The British Library confirmed today that he video is no longer available as it was incompatible with a new IT system, However, it still exists and BL hope to reinstate it and make it available to the public again at some future date.] RNT

Meanwhile...

Many gay-friendly heterosexuals I know seem to think I am exaggerating when I tell them that gay men and women worldwide still feel threatened; even here in the West. Perhaps they should take more of an interest in their fellow human beings. Mind you, that isn’t easy when the media all but ignore gay issues except when occasions like World AIDS Day demand they pay some token attention.

I recently received an email from the U.S. based All Out organisation regarding recent anti-gay activities in Russia and Nigeria, but there will be gay people from all countries and of all religious persuasions that will have little to celebrate this Christmas or during any of the world’s religious festivals.

Last week, pressure on the Russian government prevented a vote on its anti-gay bill from taking place. All Out members around the world amplified the voice of Russian activists, forcing world leaders to speak out against this law that justifies hate and discrimination. Russia’s gay men and women remain hopeful, but the fight is far from over; the bill may still come back.

Unfortunately there's no time to celebrate. The Nigerian Senate has just followed Russia's bad example, passing a bill this week which would make it illegal to publicly support LGBT rights. Simply showing up to a gay bar could land you in jail for 14 years, regardless of your sexuality.

www.allout.org/nigeria

Nigeria is already an incredibly dangerous place for LGBT people, and this latest piece of legislation will only further push the Nigerian LGBT community deep underground.

Here’s a BIG HUG from me for gay people world-wide unable to openly stand up for their sexuality for whatever reason.

Now, Christmas is looming fast. As regular readers will know only too well, I do not subscribe to any religion, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect anyone, anywhere, whose religion plays a very important part in their lives. Besides, all religious festivals are times when people, especially families and friends, come together in peace and love. Well, that is how it is supposed to be although it has been my personal experience that peace and love are sometimes in short supply; celebration is by its very nature infectious, and there's nothing wrong with that so long as people remember to live by whatever it is they are celebrating long after the festivities are done and dusted.

And what of those who spend Christmas alone? Well, I personally can honestly say I have spent many a wonderful Christmas alone; yet, never really alone because I am surrounded by the ghosts of Christmases and other ‘together’ times past who never fail to invite me to spend a happy, peaceful if reflective time with them. Moreover, I consider myself a son of Earth Mother, and she is never far away.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW

I woke one morning to find
snow in the ground;
where my garden used to be,
a vast, white sea,
waves whipped up by the wind
like a frozen Tsunami threatening an island
of woebegone leaves

Footprints across this icy sea
beckoned me;
soon I was following them out
of the garden gate,
where once chirpy fields were,
to winter’s unfeeling whims now laid bare,
trees, like icebergs

The footprints halted suddenly
where daises used to be
you’d made into a chain for me,
each flower a memory,
and we’d promised that spring day
our love would last forever, always find a way
to bring us together

Distant bells ringing joyously,
a snowman smiling at me,
fair Apollo’s coming out to smile
on lovers going that last mile
for one another even in bleakest winter,
all confirming the daisies are with Earth Mother
for safekeeping

Copyright R. N. Taber 2011

Warning: Danger Zone OR Gay in Abuja

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

Nigeria does not allow or recognise LGBT rights. There is no legal protection against discrimination in Nigeria. Very few gay or transgender people dare be open about their orientation, and violence against them is frequent.

Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Nigeria. The maximum punishment in the twelve northern states that have adopted Shari'a law is death by stoning. In southern Nigeria and under the secular criminal laws of northern Nigeria, the maximum punishment for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years' imprisonment. 

Abuja - Photo from the Internet

An email from a gay reader who lives in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, prompted this villanelle.

WARNING: DANGER ZONE or GAY IN ABUJA

G-A-Y, where few dare tread
(fewer still must guess)
neighbours would see us dead

On stereotypes, too many fed
who begrudge us happiness;
G-A-Y, where few dare tread

I’ve, oh, so often heard it said,
best rid the world of queers;
neighbours would see us dead 

We have listened, argued, bled,
(members of the human race);
G-A-Y, where few dare tread

Why the disgust, horror, dread?
(a sexual identity in all of us)
neighbours would see us dead

No God would see us hounded
(in whose name hound us?)
G-A-Y, where few dare tread;
neighbours would see us dead

Copyright R. N. Taber 2016

Asylum OR Flight of the Phoenix

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

In the 1970's (when I confess I was too scared to be openly gay) I was told time and time again that 'gays no nothing about love, only sick sex'.Nearly five decades later I am still hearing about much the same thing being said behind closed doors...from gay boys and girls, men and women who find themselves in much the same hellish situation as I did all those years ago. Why behind closed doors? Because western societies have pro LGBT legislation and no one wants to be called out for bucking the trend or, worse, taken to court.

There have been a number of high profile cases here in the UK and across Europe involving gay people fleeing their countries of origin because of persecution, including execution, against gay men and women there. Take the case of Bisi Alimi, for example, forced to flee Nigeria after receiving death threats and granted asylum in the UK two years later. Why such cases take so long to be settled appals me. We should not hesitate to give asylum to gay people in such situations…or anyone else genuinely fearing persecution in their own country for their views or sexuality.

Bisi Alimi (photo from the Internet)

At the same time, it is my view that fleeing even the world’s worst trouble spots is not a good reason enough to offer unconditional asylum….or where do we stop? Economic migrants especially should return to their own countries once conditions there are seen to be clearly improving. As for the EU's policy regarding Freedom of  Movement with inadequate (if any) border checks...that is a terrorist's ticket to ride for which, in my opinion, Angela Merkel and her EU colleagues have much to answer for.

We invariably hear the world referred to as 'civilised' So can we expect more love, peace, respect for each other's differences and less hate, jealousy and greed? Oh, but I wish!  Tragically...fat chance, I guess.

Now, I don't have a problem with immigration as such, but we accept too many immigrants and asylum seekers here in the UK who are clearly set on ‘playing the system’ so… all the more reason for the system to be changed…radically and soon…if only to be made fairer and more appropriate for everyone concerned. As things stand, it strikes me that many genuine people are being turned away while the fraudsters (including a significant number with terrorist sympathies) manage to get into the country.

For my own part, I regret the way the UK seems to have all but turned its back on Commonwealth countries regarding trade as well as immigration in favour of an EU in whose governing bodies and courts fewer and fewer people I talk to have any faith whatsoever. The coalition government here has put a cap on EU immigration; this is necessary and should have been applied sooner since we are, after all, only an island. But where a cap is most needed (e.g. on arrivals from some Middle Eastern countries) it does not appear to apply.

As it is, the UK is regarded as a soft touch, if not a laughing stock, by would-be and successful immigrants alike across the world. Worse, a (very) significant minority of successful immigrants persist in complaining that their cultural or religious needs are not sufficiently met here and/or that the West is decadent and deserves their contempt. Mostly, these are economic migrants who thrive here and see no reason why they should be in the least respectful to our existing laws and customs.

Oh, but I guess there is no really pleasing some people. If I were to go and live in another country because it offered me a better life than my own, I hope I would be grateful and respect its ways, not expect it to comply with mine.

There is so much hypocrisy too. In my area of London, for example, there has been a significant influx of Somalis in recent years. In my experience, many if not most Somalis are homophobic (if no more or less so than others from various ethnic minority backgrounds). Yet, there is an area of Hampstead Heath near where I live that has been a cruising ground for gay men, especially late at night and in the early hours, for many years. These days, I am assured by gay guys (of all ethnic origins) who go there that the majority of men seeking sex are…yes, Somalis! While I'm sure not all Somalis are such hypocrites - every corner of the world has its share - it just goes to show…

Me, I accept and have every sympathy with the fact that that, sadly, many gay people are unable, for various socio-cultural-religious reasons, to be openly gay. At the same time, I have only contempt for those same people who persist in pandering to cultural expectations by expressing homophobic views in public.

This poem is a villanelle.

ASYLUM or FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX

Home, where the heart is,
history in the making,
building better countries

Life, with new neighbours,
old enmities forsaking;
home, where the heart is

On all, the onus of peace,
new dawns breaking,
building better countries

Our origins, surely, precious
embers for the raking;
home, where the heart is

Invited to feel good, at ease,
same dreams for the taking,
building better countries

Love, where we choose,
(differences equably debating);
Home, where the heart is
building better countries

Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2018

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears under the title 'Asylum' in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005; alternative title added 2010.]