My Canine Partner

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

again, not an LGBT-specific poem, but not irrelevant as I have met disabled LGBT folks from all walks of life and locations worldwide. I will try and post n gay-specific poem here one of these days, but please browse the archives for my earlier efforts. Struggling with prostate cancer since 2012 has meant I am not sexually active any more, and inspiration is not forthcoming, but I will try and find an LGBT-interest poem in my collections that has not appeared on the blogs...

Meanwhile...

Today's poem was written with a close friend's mother, Sheila, in mind; she was disabled in has meant I am  a car accident some years ago. Her first Assistant Dog, Juneau, sadly long since deceased and replaced by others, was trained by Canine Partners, a UK charity transforming the lives of people with disabilities by partnering them with highly trained assistant dogs. 

We all have our personal battles to fight, disabled people more than most. Assistant Dogs are skilled in helping their owners  confront and overcome all manner of obstacles, emotional as well as physical. Sheila is no exception, an  inspiration, even after a recent stroke, an epitome of the human spirit at its finest, as embraced by disabled people from all walks of life on a daily basis.

For more information about Canine Partners, visit their website; https://caninepartners.org.uk. For organizations outside the UK, see: https://assistancedogsinternational.org  (Support by way of donations always welcome and much appreciated.)

I have always admired the indomitable spirit of  disabled people everywhere, not least since joining them in a less but significant capacity following an accident in 2012. I was fortunate enough to recover sufficient mobility to get out and about with the aid of a walking stick. Even so, I used to walk miles and miss it terribly, especially as I cannot walk far these days, nor have been able to do so since. Even so, I try to emulate people like Sheila, truly an inspiration, and try my best to nurture  the kind of a positive thinking mindset that sees disabled people climb mountains every day of their lives.

MY CANINE PARTNER

While I'm just an ordinary person,

although I have a disability;

Juneau's trained to be one in a million

assisting, supporting, inspiring me

Juneau helps me participate fully 

in the business of everyday living;

people would rather get to know me

instead of looking away or staring

Juneau is my trusty canine partner,

together we tackle life's ups and downs;

we make a team like you'll find no other

on slopes where once only mountains 

Far more than assistant or friend to me, 

Juneau helps make my dreams reality

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2002, 2021

[This poem, dedicated to 'Disabled People Everywhere' first appears in my collection, On the Battlefields of Love, Assembly Books, 2010.]

Talking Heads

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

Reading old poems is rather like reading through a diary. I recall the inspiration for a poem as if it were yesterday. In the case of today’s poem, I had exchanged meaningful glances with a guy on the London Underground on my way home from work. Sadly, that was all we ever did.

Yesterday, on the way home on the Northern Line from Waterloo after a delightful day out with a friend, I experienced a sense of déjà vu…

As soon as I got home, I looked up this poem and found myself wishing I’d had the same self-confidence then that I have now.

Alas, wrong time, wrong train, wrong age…BUT…more exciting events and the closing ceremony for a fantastic and truly inspiring Paralympics to look forward to tonight.

Well done team Para GB! I suspect you have changed forever (and so much for the better) the perceptions of many people with regard to those among us with various disabilities.

Oh, and let’s be sure to include disabled gay men and women, too, in all sections of society. There is more to all of us than our gender, sexuality, rece, religion ... whatever.  What you see is rarely what you get; too many people are so quick to make assumptions that they never get to see us for all we really are.

As for anyone (whatever their sex or sexuality) exchanging wishful eye contact with a potential kindred spirit on life’s journey - GO for it. (Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and everything to play for.)

TALKING HEADS

One finger brushes my hand
as if wanting me to understand
all your eyes long to convey
though you don’t dare  look up
from a page of your book
as your lips can’t even half shape
what they may or may not say
because you’ve not yet learned
the words for feelings gay

I dare let my leg press yours,
and feel scalding tremors pulse
through our bodies
like a series of electric shocks,
yet you will not look up at me,
keep licking your lips nervously,
feverishly swallowing the taste
of me, coming to terms (finally)
with an enduring curiosity

I freely let my gaze caress
your face, on sensual mouth place
a gentle kiss, full lips parting
to let my tongue explore, not reading
any more (if you ever were).
While heads, noses, ears, rush us
from all sides like attitudes,
you’re fiddling with a shirt button,
it’s a lifeline...

Come together if only briefly,
you and me against the Hydra

Copyright R. N. Taber 2002; 2012

[Note: This poem has been slightly revised from the original version as it appears in First Person Plural by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2002.]