An Empathy with Nature (1)

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

“Love has no gender - compassion has no religion - character has no race.” - Abhijit Naskar, [Either Civilized or Phobic: A Treatise on Homosexuality]

“Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly he work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces that make it a living thing.” John Stuart Mill

“In terms of sex between same-sex partners, the objection that "the parts don't fit" doesn’t make sense on even the most logical level. If the parts didn't work together, frankly, people wouldn't be putting them together.” -  Kathy Baldock [Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach Between the Church and the LGBT Community]

“Our common humanity is more important than all the things that divide us.” – Mairead Corrigan

Now, as regular readers will know, some years ago, I began writing a trilogy, the title of each volume to be Blasphemy, Sacrilege and Redemption; it was never finished. I had been given to understand that an American publisher would publish it, but it transpired that he was only interested in breaking into the UK market. When Blasphemy failed to comply, he lost interest in any companion volumes. 

Although I had already written Sacrilege, no UK publishers expressed any interest in a gay-interest trilogy. Moreover, a very rude letter from the American publisher, making fun of my self-publishing logo, “Assembly Books” left me loath to complete the trilogy. He clearly had no sense of irony which, regrettably, I took to heart at the time.

Later, I published Sacrilege along with Blasphemy and my other novels on my fiction blog, but was already having to deal with health issues that, dissuaded me from writing Redemption.

Why Blasphemy-Sacrilege-Redemption? The enduring hope was to get across the idea that any form of prejudice is a blasphemy, just as physically and/ or emotionally abusing LGBT+ folks is a sacrilege and our ability to rise above it and come together in peace and love with the blessing of friends and family (gay or straight, kith and kin alike) is nothing short of a redemption. 

For my own part, those early closet years were a living death, nor ever have I felt so alive as when I felt the full force of mind-body-spirit prompting me to to get real and come out. . 

Subscribers to conventional religions may well take offence; none intended, though, as my only intention has ever been to endorse the Human Right to differ. Besides, any religious argument that  God is Love loses credence in the face of any form of prejudice within the framework of a common humanity. Me, I consider myself a Pantheist, a feeling for God as nature rather than its creator, having always felt a closer affinity and sense of spirituality with nature. 

As in all matters across the human landscape, we cannot expect to always accept or even understand some of the choices people make, simply respect them as we respect theirs, not cause dispute and irreparable division, especially in matters of the heart. No one should be made to feel a sinner, whatever their religion, for staying true to their native sexuality; nor, I imagine, would any God of Love judge us so.

Regular readers of any or all of my blogs will know that agreeing to differ, rather than fighting over whatever, it is a matter close to my heart.

So…such is the background to a proposed trilogy of poems,  An Empathy with Nature (1), (2) and (3) of which the first appears below.

Now, I hope to complete (2) and (3) within a few weeks, but have to confess that health issues are proving a hindrance to just about everything I attempt at the moment, so there may be some delay.

Each poem will also appear on my general blog. Doubtless, some readers there will complain that my  Gay/ LGBT+- interest poems should be restricted to this blog, but a poem has something to say to everyone, just as prejudice is inclined to raise its ugly head anywhere and everywhere.

 AN EMPATHY WITH NATURE (1)

Some abuse me, say I sin
whose faith would condemn me 
to serve a life sentence,
prisoner of heart-and-soul,
unable to break free,
give the real me an opportunity
to be as faces in the moon
haunt my days, assure me night after night
that no wrong could feel so right

No conventional religion
would concede me the spirituality
my imagination feeds on,
taking my cue from earth, sea and sky,
all things bright ad beautiful,
creatures great and small, like candles
to love-hope-peace, lessons
for the learning in nature and human nature,
to embrace, pas on, nurture

No true love can be a sin,
regardless of whatever any religion
might have to say,
nor yearning flesh to yearning flesh,
whatever gender, but set on
giving the poetry of mind-body-spirit
a voice; no ego calling,
only a spirituality made fearful of rejection
by strictures on kith and kin

It well may be that home
is where heart-and-soul comes alive,
leaving doubts and fears
for the love of one above all others;
yet, love is ever plural,
has room aplenty for family and friends,
whose love and understanding
may yet be still relied upon as freely given;
such is the art of being human

Call me Blasphemy in a heaven-and-hell world
where Bigotry so loves to have the last word...?

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

S

A Small World

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

“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” – Barbara Gittings

“Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” – James Baldwin

“Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start.” – Jason Collins

Hi folks, sorry, I have been unable to post this poem sooner, but my prostate cancer leaves me with little energy some days, so much so that I am unable even to look on the bright(er) side of life! While I always rally the more positive life forces to my rescue in time, how long it takes them to arrive depends on how soon various other health issues settle down.😉

The poem is based on a fairly recent conversation with a complete stranger with whom I got chatting on a bus while stuck in a traffic jam. It struck a chord with me since, as I have mentioned before on the blog, I once had a schoolboy crush on a prefect at the same school, but was too scared in those days to emerge from my life-sucking closet. It would be half a century later that he’d get in touch after reading this blog and reveal that, even at the time, he, too, was gay. 

Sadly, that was way back in the (very) homophobic 1950’s and he never ventured from the closet they shoved him into, slamming the door after him with the kind of contempt that ignorance continues to breed even in what we would expect to be a more enlightened 21st century.

A SMALL WORLD

It was broad daylight, a watery sun
shedding auras on a local park,
as if determined to resist dark clouds
closing in even as I walked,
eyes wide open, as mind-body-spirit
fought its daily battle,
albeit seemingly poorly armed,
struggling to fend off darker clouds of its own
than in any heaven

I spotted a neighbour I knew, but not well,
reading a book on a nearby seat,
paused, just to say hello, to be greeted
with a smile inviting me
to linger, if only to pass the time of day,
so I did, compelled
by an increasingly darkening mood
to lighten up, conversation invariably a good start
for any human heart

We made small talk, both of us struggling
for something to say besides
wishing potential storm clouds away, sky
taking sides with a sun,
trying to make life a sight better 
for everyone, open invitation
to look on the brighter side of life,
make it more than worth the living, no matter what,
go with mind-body-spirit

Without thinking, I said, “I’m gay, you know."
“No, I didn’t." he said absently,
without turning a hair, surprise registering
in face and voice, that’s all,
no indication his heart-and soul (or mine)
thought any worse of me for it,
but leading him to gently ask questions,
less curious than  interested, no hint of any prejudice
likely to come between us 

Even so, I waited, curious to see just how long
it would take for a storm to break,
relieved to relate how I’d been afraid to say
the words, I’d just dared say,
scarcely believing it hadn’t been as hard
as nightmares had foretold,
my mood shifting for the better, clouds too,
clearing to give the sun a kinder view of the world below,
such as lets its flowers grow

Later, as we parted after agreeing to meet again,
I found the words to thank him
For not minding I’m gay in a world where one
Meets prejudice as often as not,
Mind-body-spirit wary of putting heart-and-soul
In any potential danger,
World politics and religions sowing seeds
of doubt in a vulnerable human nature at every opportunity
to address a ‘common humanity’

“Sorry!”, he laughed, “but I honestly thought you knew,
my brother went to school with you, and he’s gay too…”

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

Mind-Body-Spirit, no Open-and-Shut Case

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

Regular readers will know that I am a great believer in both free speech and agreeing to differ. The info on the link below appals me.

https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2019/05/islamophobia-definition-unfit-for-purpose-say-campaigners

I would no more support Islam than any other world religion, but neither would I ever reject anyone for their religion alone, however much I might dispute its dogma. Furthermore, I have met many Muslims, especially among younger people, who also would not presume to pre-judge a person by their religion or non-religion, as the case may be. 

Who we are - the person we are - is the sum of all our parts; taken individually, these same parts cannot be taken to represent us.

Now, I don't subscribe to any major religion because I have issues with many aspects of their various dogma. To suggest this makes me a bigot or racist is, to my mind, absurd. Similarly, I have issues with many if not all political parties. Do I deserve to be shouted down for saying so? I think not, even if human nature, self-obsessed as it is often found to be, might well argue otherwise.

Religion is not a side entrance to politics, which is exactly how it is being made to appear time and again on the world stage; Islam is no exception, nor should it be seen to be.

I have worked alongside men and women people from all walks of life and of various socio-religious-political persuasions and met others at poetry readings I have given around the country. 

I deplore bigotry in any shape or form; there are those, though, who have expressed reservations (to say the least) about LGBT people, usually couched in such a way that they cannot be accused of being overtly politically incorrect. People will often confide that, while they mean no offence, they are simply 'not comfortable' around us, although I have to wonder why, in that case, many of those same people have been ok with working alongside a gay poet and even attending his poetry readings ... ?

We are a common if diverse humanity, whose individual differences do not make us any more or less a part of it, whoever or wherever we are; our contributions to it may well vary in shape and form, but human history will be the best judge of that while (hopefully) passing on any lessons learned. 

Those among us inclined to put Mind-Body-Spirit in the dock from time to time, not least our own as much as anyone else's - will be only too familiar with open verdicts.

This poem is a kenning.

MIND-BODY-SPIRIT, NO OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE 

I am more than any religion,

politics, social standing in a world

preoccupied with the parts

comprising who we are rather than

the sum of these,

attacked for being unfit for purpose

by any who disagree,

appointed judge and jury by default

to human nature

I am more than stereotypes

love to make out, convey my all

to a world preferring

assumptions to finding out for itself

what makes us tick;

never a simple equation in archives

of human history,

ever tailored to measure according

to cloth and clout

I am more than you observe

on any street, in any public forum

where that other self

I choose to show to family, friends,

may well stay hid;

but give me the benefit of any doubt,

go the last mile, and let’s see

if a common humanity can’t reconcile

on common ground?

I am Personal Space, that life-secret

last heard of passing an open verdict

Copyright R. N. Taber 2020

[Note: This post-poem also appears on my general poetry blog today.]

Eye of the Tiger

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

Since I started this gay-interest poetry blog 10 years ago, I have heard from various gay couples of both genders living in various parts of the world whose prevailing socio-cultural-religious ethos is essentially homophobic. At gay groups around the UK, too, I have met gay boys and girls, men and women whose ethic background has meant their families cannot  reconcile themselves to their being gay.

No one chooses to be gay nor is it an optional lifestyle, but simply the way we are. Nature, unlike much if not most of human society is the kind of broad church that humanity will argue it aspires to, but invariably lets those people down who see our common humanity as just that, an humanity common to us all, regardless of race, religion and, yes, sexuality.

I am often asked why, as a gay person, I have a general poetry blog.  Well, there is far more to all of us - gay or straight - than our sexuality, and I have been pleased to see more gay friendly readers visiting both blogs in recent years.

Hopefully, the future will see fewer ignorant bigots emerging as future generations come to terms with and encourage action against climate change and other issues that affect all humanity, not least the rights of any individual to follow his or her their natural instincts and be as they are, not as some outdated stereotype dictates they should be.  Not everyone will agree, of course, but as I have also asked repeatedly in my posts/ poems...whatever happened to agreeing to differ? Trite, yes, but true as is the old adage, 'United we stand, divided we fall.'

EYE OF THE TIGER

I am who I am and all that I am

is blessed by Earth Mother;

it is she who gives you to me,

at ease with our sexuality;

no one else has the right to speak

against us who are gay;

it is her love gives you to me,

at ease with our sexuality

I am that I am and all that I am

aches for love and peace

among family, friends, a country

at ease with our sexuality

while we dry Earth Mother’s tears

for a make-believe freedom

that gives me to you and you to me,

at ease with our sexuality

Where the tides of time spare none,

find history’s wry comment

on freedom, bright as a tiger’s eye

in the jungle of human nature,

pointing the world to a better place,

kinder of heart, fairer of face,

embracing the likes of you and me

at ease with our sexuality

There is, among all Human Rights,

one that must have priority;

taking pride in our individuality,

no matter its sexuality;

as for those who insist we deserve

punishment, even death...

find none so blind as will not see

Creation’s finer symmetry

Copyright R. N. Taber 2011

[Note: Written in response to a communication from  two secretly  gay Yemenis among anti-government demonstrators in Yemen, February, 2011.]

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

Covenant with Love

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

This poem appears in my general poetry archives for May 2012.

World AIDS day may be on Dec 1st, but the HIV-AIDS virus is among us all the time and those affected need our love and support every day.

Since being tested positive for prostate cancer in 2011, mind and spirit remain active, but my body doesn't want to know any more. No worries there, though, as I always enjoy falling back on feisty  memories and letting a poet's imagination, its wonders to perform...

COVENANT WITH LOVE 

Though saddened hearts would break

and HIV-AIDS a rising toll,

love, with loss, its peace shall make

See ripples spread for humanity's sake

come sun, moon, heart and soul

though saddened hearts would break

Where disease, fate, or age lives take,

anger, grief, like burning coal,

love, with loss, its peace shall make

See a light from dark, its prison break,

let better times roll…

though saddened hearts would break

Though we live for living’s own sake,

no matter affairs of the soul,

love, with loss, its peace shall make

Let the world’s worst its own forsake

and healing be our goal;

though saddened hearts would break,

love, with loss, its peace shall make

Copyright R . N. Taber 2007

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in Accomplices to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]

The Greatest Show on Earth

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

This poem - and the general gist of my introduction  -  appears in my general blog archives for May 2012.

I love it when people ask me to repeat a villanelle; regular readers will know I have a passion for them. I have written some 200+ over the years. Today’s villanelle last appeared on the blog in 2010 and is especially for ‘Damon and Louise’ who are getting married shortly and plan to spend their honeymoon on a walking tour of the Lake District. They say they are looking forward to ‘beautiful scenery by day and intimate at night.’ Well, enjoy, and congratulations to you both.

Interestingly, it appears that Louise has a gay brother who is also Damon’s best friend. Nice one, folks! Should we not all take people as we find them, regardless of race, culture, religion...whatever? I'm relieved to say I have met more people in my 70+ years who agree with me there than any who choose to take issue with those who strikes them as 'different'.We are all part of a common humanity whose very diversity helps make us who we are, and ensures a greater humanitarianism that will always - one way or another - get the better of its nemeses.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Mother Nature, a faith in us will show,

each and every one of us;

eternal confidant, always in the know

If ever we’re driven to an all-time low,

no one answering our cries,

Mother Nature, a faith in us will show

Starry heavens come, starry heavens go

for each and every one of us;

eternal confidante, always in the know

Should we be losers at love’s last throw

of its ages-old, universal dice,

Mother Nature, a faith in us will show,

Seek Apollo where darkness binds us so

(will always find time for us);

eternal confidante, always in the know

Where a bigot’s rant rings loud if hollow

and universal truths give way to lies,

Mother Nature, a faith in us will show;

eternal confidante, always in the know

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010

Crossing Red Lines

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

I am often criticised for being 'too personal' in my poems, not least for my frequent us of the first person singular.

Any 'I' in a poem of mine is invariably a global 'I' inviting the reader to engage with both me and the poem. Yes, there is much of me in my poems, but there is also much of what I have learned about nature, human nature and the human spirit across all walks of life. Suppose I were to use 'one' instead of 'I'?  Immediately doors slam shut on any intimate engaging with the poem. The reader is free to agree or disagree with any poet's point of view on whatever matter a poem may touch upon, or even deliberately ignore, the better to get a reaction.

A poet's intention is always to engage with the reader, offer food for thought, hopefully open doors of mind-body-spirit closed to him or her for whatever reason. [LGBT folks may have more than their fair share of having to bang on doors this or that society or home environment would prefer to remain shut to them, but no one - whatever their sex or sexuality - has a monopoly on closed doors.]

Now, I left school in the early 1960's. Some 50 years later I received an email about my poetry from someone who had been a sixth former when I was still a fourth former. He recognised my photo and I visited him several times in my home town where he still lived, alone. It transpired that he had been as attracted to me as I had been to him all those years ago. We were both well into our 60's by then and unwell, any physical attraction eroded by time and circumstances. Even so, we enjoyed reflecting on how our lives may well have taken a very different, quite possibly better turn - in another time, another place, given that neither of us would have hesitated to cross those particular red lines of the day, had we but felt free to even acknowledge the nature of them.

You can imagine my feelings when I received an email only fairly recently from a young person still at school and struggling with their sexuality. I could but urge him not to feel bad about being gay, but stay positive, and look online for any support groups in his area. I so feel for anyone in some lonely closet obliged, for whatever reasons, to wear another face to family and friends in whom they do not feel ready yet to disclose their sexuality. My closet years were long, long ago, but I remember them as if they were yesterday; the pressure of living a secret life, and the loneliness. Even now, I find it hard to believe there are young people around the world experiencing much the same in a so-called modern, forward looking twenty-first century.

CROSSING RED LINES

Getting ready for school,
knowing I'll soon be with him again,
our secret love, gagged
by socio-cultural-religious dogma
anxious to share blinkered
views of a world feeding dogma
to mind-body-spirits unwilling to toe
its red lines

Sitting next to him in class
much, of the lesson flapping at my ears,
like a sail in a moody breeze
as I struggle to steer a course to heaven
alone knows where, conscious
of his knee against mine now and then
if but to draw my attention to a songbird
at the window

Oh, how I feel for the bird,
singing its song, and no one to appreciate
its beauty for mind-body-spirits
made to play deaf to such music of life
as left to free spirits at windows
on a world with finer learning concerns
than finding peace of mind, his forefinger
brushing mine

Desks drawn close, our fingers daring to say
it's OK to be gay

Copyright R. N. Taber 2019

Undercover OR Gay in Saint Lucia

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

Although I don’t publish comment (good or bad) readers sometimes include their email address in the Comments box and I am always happy to reply. Such was the case only recently from a gay reader who felt he had no choice but to leave the paradise island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean  because of an LGBT-unfriendly policy making such relationships likely to face a significant prison sentence on conviction.

Gros Islet and Rodney Bay as seen from Pigeon Island (Wikipedia)

This poem is a villanelle.

UNDERCOVER or GAY IN SAINT LUCIA

Calypso, bending the ear like no other,
an ages-old paradise for many,
where LGBT locals gone undercover

Trad cuisine, making the mouth water,
cherished customs running free;
Calypso, bending the ear like no other

LGBT rights making no one's agenda,
boasting fine schools and university,
where LGBT locals living undercover

A book failing to live up to its cover,
(heads in the sands of its history)
Calypso, bending the ear like no other

Apollo charging us to love each other
(prejudice as far as the eye can see)
where LGBT locals living undercover

For paradise, substitute an ivory tower,
rejecting gay and gender identity;
Calypso, bending the ear like no other
where LGBT locals living undercover

Copyright R. N. Taber 2018

Home is a Closet OR Gay in Nairobi

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

I rarely visit gay bars these days, not least because I am 73 now and having to deal with various age-related health issues, arthritis and prostate cancer among them. Even so, I have always made a point of looking on the bright side of life and that will never change.  I have always enjoyed the convivial atmosphere of a gay bar, and felt safer there too. so am saddened that so many across London have closed in recent years.

Last summer, I happened to be in Soho and could not resist calling in at Comptons, one of London’s oldest gay bars. If you’re on your own and looking for a chat (or whatever) it’s not so easy to make eye contact with anyone these days as most people are glued to their mobile phones.  However, I did get chatting with two guys who were on holiday from Nairobi, and dreading their return given that  gay couples risk 5 to 10 years imprisonment in Kenya.

Kenya does not recognise LGBT rights so neither guy had dared confide in either their families or even many old friends. One mentioned that his mother was always saying ‘There’s no place like home’ adding ‘and don’t we know it!’ with such feeling, and a meaningful glance at his companion, that it brought tears to all our eyes. I asked if they had considered seeking asylum in a gay-friendly country, but both shook their heads and said they could not bear to leave their families behind in spite of everything.

International Conference Centre, Nairobi (Wikipedia)

African buffalo in Kenya (Wikipedia)

The poem is a villanelle.

HOME IS A CLOSET or GAY IN NAIROBI

Nairobi City, fine capital of Kenya

a thriving hub of business and culture,

no place for the gay or transgender

Brave vision of one, Jomo Kenyatta

(breaking free of colonialism forever)

Nairobi City, fine capital of Kenya

For all its bold, progressive agenda,

a success tale flowing on like its river,

no place for the gay or transgender

A feel for the pulse of all Africa,

the sightseer’s dream trip like no other,

Nairobi City, fine capital of Kenya

A National Park, hymn to nature,

diverse wildlife famous the world over;

no place for the gay or transgender

On the face of it, all one could desire,

growing population, heart beating faster;

Nairobi City, fine capital of Kenya,

No place for the gay or transgender

Copyright R N Taber, 2019

The India No One Sees OR Gay in Delhi

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

As in certain other countries around the world, LGBT relationships remain a criminal offence in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, punishable by imprisonment at the very least. Every now and again, I hear from gay readers in these parts of the world and am asked to write a poem. Only recently, I found myself chatting to Viraj, a visitor from a city in India where he and his male partner are forced to give the appearance of living separate lives.

At  72+, I suspect my Muse (like me)  is less able these days, but have produced the following villanelle for the likes of people like Arijit and his secret love, wherever they may be, living in fear of reprisals by the less enlightened who remain immovably entrenched in one form or another of socio-cultural-religious dogma.

THE INDIA NO ONE SEES or GAY IN DELHI

Fine temples casting a long shadow

on centuries of human history,

River of Time running, oh, so slow

In vain may Winds of Change blow

(wake-up call to the 21st century?);

fine temples casting a long shadow

In truth, we came ourselves to know,

(as birds to a tree if never openly)

River of Time running, oh, so slow…

Hunters, a tiger’s tracks surely follow,

(child of Earth Mother, born free);

fine temples casting a long shadow

Where same sex lovers afraid to go

(says the Tarot of social misery)

River of Time running, oh, so slow

Underwriting an ages-old status quo

disrespecting homosexuality,

fine temples casting a long shadow,

River of Time running, oh, so slow

Copyright R. N. Taber 2018

Falling in with Nature

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

Maybe it was the aspiring poet in me or simply because I have always been partially deaf, but even as a child I was easily contented with my own company, especially with my head in a book or communing with nature. While my mother was OK with this, my father was critical of what he considered to be unbecoming for a boy. Thankfully, my brother was more ‘masculine’ so that took the heat off me a bit. Needless to say, my relationship with my father was never a good one; there was no father-son bonding, probably due his being a product of a generation scarred both by war and even more misleading and misguided stereotypes than my own would see.

Children, of course, only come to understand such things in time. Meanwhile, they can but rely on adults to point them in the right direction; what is right for them, that is, not, the mentoring adult. Fortunately, my mother was cut from a very different cloth to my father and I survive to tell the tale.

I grew up with very mixed feelings about how I should approach the world, family life and (not least) myself. Perhaps that is why I love everything about the natural world; for all its unpredictability, it exudes relatively less than its human counterpart. On the whole, nature also suggests a greater sense - for me, anyway - of being on one’s side; at least, not against anyone simply because he or she has a mind-body-spirit of their own that may not be in sync with some socio-cultural-spiritual ‘norm’.

I grew up, too, believing that being gay was abnormal simply because it was ‘different’ and was never more glad of the sense of spirituality nature has always inspired in me. While my mother could not have cared less, the same could not be said for the rest of my immediate family nor even some people I looked upon as friends.

As a gay man in my 70’s now, I am so glad attitudes towards homosexuality continue to change for the better in many countries, even among the more discerning within intrinsically homophobic cultures. Alas, there is no room for complacency; more education is needed about how -, whatever our colour, creed, sex or sexuality - we are all part of a common humanity and all, each in our own way…different.

Reports of further legislation to re-enforce Equal Opportunities and Political Correctness may well suggest steps in the right direction in many respects, but you cannot legislate for bad attitude which, in turn, invariably stems from ignorance of the issues involved and/or a point-blank refusal to enter into any points of view other than one’s own. Enter, Education… if  only to show that what is often taken for liberalism is, more often than not, plain common sense in the absence of which any real (as in worthwhile) communication between certain people, peoples and cultures  is likely to prove but illusory.

As for my scepticism, that remains part of who I am, too, and most likely always will. At the same time, I am also a very positive thinking person; a contradiction, some will say, but then what’s one more contradiction in a world whose elected (or self-appointed) spokespersons  contradict themselves for much if not most of the time…?

Gay or Straight, Earth Mother is a friend and ally, but we (all) need to remember that - like most if not all of us - she will be pushed only so far before she will start hitting out if only in self-defence of all creatures great and small.

FALLING IN WITH NATURE

I’ve heard folks say I should get real,

and I do as needs must…

Yet, I love to talk to flowers,

let them know I am here for them

and care if they live or die

much as I, too, could have someone

care for me, watch out for me

as I make my way through passages

of time and space among crowds

jostling to be first in line for whatever

best is yet to come as rumoured

by those assumed to be in the know

if only because it would appear

they have the ear of someone said

to really count for something

in a greater scheme of things as full

of promise as sparing on detail

nor so much as a mention of any Plan B

lest investors in social conscience despair

of profit margins

I’ve heard folks say I should man up,

and I do as needs must…

Yet, I love to spread wings, fly

among (all) birds over cities, towns,

and dreary suburbs top heavy

with killer-by-stealth pollution,

escape to the countryside,

take off with ducks, swans and the like

on its waterways, nature’s answer

to frantic airport runways…

comment on city carbuncles, enthuse

about country cottages, get angry

about global warming, especially where

powers-that-be in denial refusing

to put it on various agendas just in case

they lose votes (or face) among any

who couldn’t really care less so long as

they don’t miss out on rewards of a (very)

pecuniary nature

I’ve heard folks take me for a sceptic,

and they would be right…

Yet, I’ll believe a sunset’s promise

of sunny (or stormy) days in the wings

before I’ll trust a politician’s word

that the shape of things to come is safe

if not (quite) secure in party hands,

preferring to take my cue from such cloud

and bird formations as nature inspires

from time to time by way of suggesting

we make appropriate preparation, less need

for reparation  the powers-that-be

may well have us make for what turns out

to be their (only human) mistakes,

ours, too, if only for hearing what we want

to hear than what mind-spirit

would  take us to task for, a falling in 

with the commoner (if only human) failings

of contemporary society

Copyright R. N. Taber 2017

The Hunt, Metaphor for LGBT History

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

I have always thought hunting with hounds is a sick sport. Maybe that’s because I have a tried and tested empathy with any animal on the run; having been the victim of homophobic attacks in the distant past, I know how it feels. Some of us would get away by the skin of our teeth, of course, as I (usually) did, but not everyone escapes uninjured (or worse) and the trauma may well haunt a person all their life.

In some parts of the world (countries like Uganda and Iran, for example, to name just two) gay people have to hide their sexuality, yet are often sniffed out by bigoted forces and don't live to tell the tale. It is a tragedy that shames the civilised world. Sadly, it is as all too common a tragedy for unprotected species in the animal world as for gay people living in an intrinsically homophobic environment...or anyone else seen as fair game by those who choose to interpret this or that socio-cultural-religious take on life as justification for the unjustifiable.

[Hunters] take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds… Erasmus (1466 - 1536)


THE HUNT, METAPHOR FOR LGBT HISTORY

I hear a horn,
the baying of hounds,
thundering hooves,
need to run and hide
if only I can

Closing in on me,
horn, hounds, hooves;
scarier still,
a stench of humans
laughing

I need to pause
but the only rest for me
will last forever
once laughter catches
up with me

My legs fail,
drag me to a sanctuary
of friendly bushes
but the frothing pack
sniffs me out

The lead hound
pauses, poised to leap
for my throat,
now strikes, and all
I hear is laughter

Copyright R. N. Taber 2011

LGBT, a Global Player

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

[Update (July 21, 2016): I don’t use social media but friends have been in touch about abuse aimed at Tom Daley there. Appalled and saddened, I posted an update earlier today to my poem ‘Olympic Games’ on my general blog: http://rogertab.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/olympic-games-or-old-gods-new-gods-and.html You will be pleased to know that, as a result, more (heterosexual) readers have contacted me already who are equally supportive of Tom than abusive towards me; whether or not they liked the poem, they clearly approved of my comments regarding what sadly remains a homophobic majority worldwide. No worries, we ARE getting there, thanks to people in the public eye like Tom. Despite the social and religious bigots, the whole world may yet realise that people are people, deserving of equal rights and mutual respect regardless of colour, creed, sex or sexuality.]

Now, I rediscovered today’s short poem (dated 1982) among a pile of papers while clearing out my studio apartment in London some time ago. To be honest, I don’t recall writing it, but the date is significant as I was still recovering from a severe nervous breakdown; it would be some time before I was well enough to start looking for a job and nearly a year before I started work. Sadly, it is as relevant now- for many gay people around the world -  as it was then, and I have only slightly revised the original.

Poetry, as regular readers will know, has always been a form of creative therapy for me,. Having suffered from depression since early childhood - at a time when depression in children was either dismissed or not taken seriously by either parents, doctors, teachers or social workers – it became a restorative escapism for the harsher realities of life, and remains so to this day. (I am in my 70's now.)

Growing up at a time when gay relationships were not only a criminal offence here in the UK but being gay was considered ‘sick’ by the heterosexual majority, I had to stay in a cold, dark closet during my teenage years and as a young man. Indeed. So hard was it to shrug off those years that I was in and out of the damn closet for a long time after gay relationships were decriminalised in 1967. I am in no doubt that this ordeal made a significant contribution to a nervous breakdown in my early 30’s ...

Sadly, even in so-called ‘liberal’ countries like the UK, gay men and women growing up in a gay-unfriendly home and/or school and/or work environment. I can only urge them to discover the power of positive thinking and let everyone know that most stereotypes still that continue to attach themselves to gay people in the minds of the less enlightened are not only misleading and offensive but invariably a pack of lies.

By the way, readers contact me from time to time to complain that my blog post/poems are somewhat repetitive.  I offer no apologies for tackling similar themes time and again although I do my best to vary form and content. I have been happily and openly gay for a good 30+ years but am painfully aware that many gay people around the world are (still) unable to come ‘out’ for various reasons; it is one of the more appalling and tragic aspects of the 21st century. 

Bigotry takes various forms, of course, and doesn't only target gay people. Whatever, we gay people from all walks of life - have a major, indeed global part to play in stamping it out worldwide or at the very least leading by example in getting the better of it ...

LGBT, A GLOBAL PLAYER

Some people, as a matter of course,
ask what being gay means to me,
and then (oh, so subtly) put forward
assorted perspectives on perversity

I take them by surprise when I reply
that I’m proud of my sexuality
in the sense that it inspires me to try
and make good a native spirituality

Being gay doesn’t make us different
in how we live (except sexually);
sadly, some will rush to judgement,
casting aspersions our integrity...

Hear LGBT folks speak with one voice
in a divided world (its own choice)

Copyright R. N. Taber 2016

(Another) Crime Against Humanity OR G-A-Y, No Strangers to Hate Crime

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

The full horror of events in Orlando, Florida, in the early hours of one Sunday morning (June 12th, 2016) when a lone gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub, killing 49 people and injuring many others, some seriously, is only now starting to hit home among gay communities worldwide. 

If, as it would appear, the perpetrator was inspired by so-called Islamic State, it begs the question how many others are being similarly radicalised and groomed to commit other outrages just about anywhere in the world?

Gay or straight, we cannot be intimidated by the threat of terrorism even if, as many have discovered to their cost, it is no empty threat. All we can do is remain vigilant, report any suspicions to the appropriate authorities, and get on with our lives.

Yes, I have said much the same thing on other posts and in other poems, but as my mother (and my English teacher) used to say some 50+ years ago, if something is worth saying, it is always worth repeating. Moreover, I do try to vary how I express much the same thing in poems, blog posts, and everyday conversation. (If I fail, I can only agree that I must be one of the most boring people on the planet.)

Tragically, crimes against humanity are nothing new and have been repeated, in one form or another around the world, through the ages; more often than not, they are politically motivated. Rubens’ painting, ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ relates to Herod the Great’s ordering the killing of every male child in Bethlehem in a desperate attempt to kill baby Jesus whom he saw as a potential threat after a visit by the Magi; according to the Gospel of Matthew. [Photo copied from the Internet.]

This poem is a villanelle.

(ANOTHER) CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY or G-A-Y, NO STRANGERS TO HATE CRIME 

A sickness of the human condition,

spread by terrorist propaganda

strikes at the heart of civilisation

Gay folks, out and about, having fun,

ever trolled by social trauma,

a sickness of the human condition

In a Land of the Free, Constitution

promotes a gun-toting agenda,

strikes at the heart of civilisation

Many oppose tighter gun legislation

in the light of the War on Terror,

a sickness of the human condition

Few voice concerns for a generation

where a biased, foxy, media

strikes at the heart of civilisation

Wherever discrimination and division 

fuelling a socio-cultural burner,

a sickness of the human condition

strikes at the heart of civilisation

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2016

(London, June 14, 2016)

No Legislation for Bad Attitude or Gay in Ukraine

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

I have some readers in Ukraine so when one contacted me suggesting I write another ‘place’ poem for what is LGBT History month here in the UK, I naturally gave it a lot of thought, resulting in the villanelle below.

‘Non-commercial, same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private is legal in Ukraine, but prevailing social attitudes are often described as being intolerant of LGBT people and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for any of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. In a 2010 European study, 28% of Ukrainians polled believed that LGBT individuals should live freely and however they like.’ – Wikipedia

While even just 28% is encouraging, what of the majority 72%? How long will it take them to get real about their gay neighbours when, after all, it involves no more or less than practising an everyday humanity?  

If there is one thing this changing world of ours has yet to learn, it is that human rights and cultural rites are NOT mutually exclusive; only then are we likely to see less local, national and international in-fighting...

Kiev - Photo from the Internet

This poem is a villanelle.

NO LEGISLATION FOR BAD ATTITUDE or GAY IN UKRAINE 

Come a 21st century modernity
(to all intents and purposes)
old prejudices (still) a priority

That usual culprit, immorality,
furthering social causes,
come a 21st century modernity

Less tolerant of homosexuality
(in traditionalist families)
old prejudices (still) a priority

Doing battle with its historicity
(powerful cultural forces)
come a 21st century modernity

Human rights demanding eqality
(encouraged by EU laws)
old prejudices (still) a priority

Few acknowledging our integrity,
gay folks cast long shadows;
come a 21st century modernity,
old prejudices (still) a priority


Copyright R. N. Taber 2016