Spelling it Out

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

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein 

“The world helps you to keep evolving and hope it's for better. You have to rise above all the tragedies in life. You have to grow, and if you stop growing, you are old.” - Hrithik Roshan“

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”- Helen Keller 

“Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” - Paul Theroux  

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ― Maya Angelou

Now, after all the fun and fireworks, the early day of any new year can become daunting as we place our hopes in what lies ahead, no idea whether or not we will see them fulfilled, fail in the attempt or be outwitted by forces beyond our control…? A scary prospect.  The more we contemplate a whole new year ahead, so excitement and enthusiasm may well give way to a mind-body-spirit likely to leave us  less able to think straight than the worst hangover ever.  

So…? We may well need help. We may well need a sounding board. We may well need a good friend (who knows us well) to confide in and help our more positive thoughts to find a voice, give us feedback, help us through the hangover into whatever it takes to help us confront, make sense of and (eventually) rise above whatever is gnawing away at us…

 SPELLING IT OUT

Old year done and dusted,
another to get through, for better
or worse, as we can but try 
to keep looking on the bright(er) side
of life, whatever challenges
invading our personal space demand
we meet them head-on, 
resolve to tackle each as best we can,
bring out the best of being human

We can wish our cares away
to no avail, side-step, put on hold
our worst fears in vain,
inevitably have them catch us out
when we are least prepared
for not having thought them through,
shared our feelings with a friend,
sought more than a shoulder to cry on,
called on the best of being human

Every worry, every sadness
needs to find a voice, similarly
every voice needs someone
to listen to what it has to say, hear
what lies beyond the words,
help us to understand our world,
(even make it a kinder place?)
bring such inspiration to personal space
as lets heart-and-soul set the pace

Another year of spelling out You-Me-Us;
keywords: patience, peace, happiness

Copyright R. N. Taber 2023

[Note: This post-poem also appears on my general  blog today, given that feedback continues to suggest that many LGBT readers remain inclined to give this one a miss.] RT

PS Yes, I am working on a new gay-specific poem.

  

Answering Back

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

Regular readers know full well that I do not subscribe to any religion. I consider myself a pantheist , preferring to take a (strong) sense of spirituality from nature in whose life forces I do not discount the work of a greater power. At the same time, I respect all religions, even though few (if any) respect neither my being (actively) gay nor my agnosticism. We are all free to make our own choices in life and should not be so quick to condemn any into which we cannot enter ourselves…for whatever reason. (It has been my experience that many people who insist they are not judgemental, prove by way of word and deed to be among the most judgemental. We are all different and it is our human right to be different.

I have met gay people from various socio-cultural-religious backgrounds who remain in the closet regarding their sexuality for fear of offending religious leaders who cannot reconcile sex and sexuality with religious. My understanding f God is that no God would want these people to suffer as they do, some terribly, from a sense of guilt no God worthy of the name would impose upon anyone.

More than once it has been put to me that I should put aside my gay ways and reconcile myself to a way of life likely to find favour with God as laid down in Holy Books; in my case, the Holy Bible. God, though, did not write any Holy Books, humankind did, and who’s to say how much was lost in translation and/or shaped in such a way as most likely to appeal to select writer/s and readers alike.

ANSWERING BACK

Being gay is no sin
a priest told a gathering
of gay men, women,
and gay-friendly souls;
the sin, it lies
in practising (gay) rites
of sex, even worse
for taking such pleasure
in them as cannot
(ever) be justified in the eyes
of any God
according to any religion
whose dogma
needs must be respected
by all followers,
no exceptions made for a select
minority of gays

Being gay is a life force
in me, spoke up someone
among the audience,
just as that blessed sense
of spirituality
I have (always) taken not only
from my religion
but also such life forces
all around us…
as in nature’s predilection
for renewal…
nor less so in a common humanity
whose needs,
(spiritual as well as temporal )
deserve common respect,
no exceptions made  for a select
minority of clerics

The priest begged
to differ, quoting passages
from Holy Books
that rang hollow for being taken out
of context and century,
even dogma, given its intention
to underwrite  
a sense of peace and love taken
from life forces
common to mind- body- spirit,
bent on reinforcing
a spiritual well-being independent
of any religious dogma,
audience reserving a human
right of reply,
likely to fall on many a deaf ear
in Church arenas

Copyright R. N. Taber 2017

Beauty and Strength, Defining (Gay) Pride OR Diversity, Nature Documentary

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

Regular readers will know that I do not subscribe to any religion. Even so, I hate to see gay men and women, boys and girls made to feel their sexuality and religion are mutually exclusive.

Socio-cultural-religious dogma has much to answer for and still has a long way to go before it can even begin to redress the wrongs and pain it has inflicted - and continues to inflict - on LGBT people worldwide.

Religions would have us believe in a God of peace and love. So why should sexuality matter to any God? And if it doesn’t matter to God, why should it matter to anyone professing to be a God-fearing person? Oh, and if sexuality does matter to a God who created all living things, how come the natural world is inclusively gay…?

I am reminded of a favourite quote: "It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength." - Maya Angelou

Incidentally, several readers have asked me to repeat the link to my favourite You Tube film about homosexuality in the natural world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYdcvRe7ox8

This poem is a villanelle.

BEAUTY AND STRENGTH, DEFINING (GAY) PRIDE or DIVERSITY, NATURE DOCUMENTARY

Subject of a cloud movie one day;
the inner eye researching
all human history, inclusively gay

Apes in captivity, humans at play,
world shaping up, reshaping…
Subject of a cloud movie one day

True audience participation by way
of focusing on an all-embracing
all human history, inclusively gay

Signs of a storm well on the way,
as if the heavens protesting…
Subject of a cloud movie one day

A lark rising, its bitter-sweet lay
an ages-old theme, reworking
all human history, inclusively gay

Imprints on the heart sure to stay,
though a hard rain falling;
subject of a cloud movie one day,
all human history, inclusively gay

Copyright R. N. Taber 2008; 2018

Protest in Paradise OR G-O-D spells Love (Inclusively, in any Language)

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

Many people from various socio-cultural-religious backgrounds continue to actively condemn gay/ LGBT relationships. A Christian I used to work with - a charming woman -  once told me that while she, personally, had no problem with my being gay she regretted I would go to Hell. Others - from various religious backgrounds - have been  as forthright and said there would be no place for LGBT people in paradise.

Fortunately, not everyone from (various) religious backgrounds feels the same way and sees God as an all-inclusive God of Love.

Now, regular readers will know that I am not a religious person, and this has nothing to do with my being gay. I rejected religion even as a child because I found it didactic and divisive. Yes, I like to think I have a strong sense of spirituality, but I take it from nature where religion offers me nothing to which I can even begin to relate.

Whatever, I cannot conceive of any ‘God’ that would condone any form of discrimination against anyone simply on the grounds of their sex, ethnicity, creed or sexuality; if it were so, that particular religion would make no sense if only on the grounds of its inhumanity.

So if you subscribe to a religion, aspire to its interpretation of Heaven and are gay, never let anyone tell you there is no place for you in it.

PROTEST IN PARADISE or G-O-D SPELLS LOVE (INCLUSIVELY, IN ANY LANGUAGE)

My God, these people are gay!

What on earth can we do?

Can’t we just send them away?

Looks and speech are everyday,

(easy to slip through);

My God, these people are gay!

What on earth will the hets say?

They’ll be such a to-do…

Can’t we just send them away?

A voice in the soul says, ‘pray’

but it speaks to them too;

My God, these people are gay!

Commit themselves as they may

to a love running true,

can’t we just send them away?

Same sex couples should pay

but of course it’s up to you;

My God, these people are gay!

Can’t we just send them away?

No, you say? So, why, pray…? 

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007

[Note: This poem first appeared on the blog a few years ago and feedback indicated that some readers were offended. No offence intended, I assure you.]

The Ballad Of Neighbour Joe or G-A-Y meets H-E-T

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

I have to say thank you to US reader ‘Jackson D’ who has bought a copy of my new poetry collection and emailed with some very positive comments about it. Encouragement is always well received! He asked why several poems, including this one, have never appeared on the blog. Well, actually they have, Jackson, back in 2008, but here is one again that I hope everyone will enjoy. [The other poem t Jackson liked is Whatever Happened To Love?  from an earlier collection, Accomplices to Illusion (2007) and I have posted it on my general blog today.]

Jackson, you see, reads both blogs. I shouldn’t have to write a blog especially for gay readers but there are still a lot of straight poetry lovers out there who would have no interest in reading a gay blog. The irony is that many Gay Awareness poems that I post here appear on the general blog at some time or another anyway…and only one reader has ever complained.

I have to say, too, that there are a lot of gay readers out there who only read my gay blog because it addresses gay people, not for just the poetry. Even so, it is very encouraging that most gay readers seem to enjoy the poems too!

Here we are in the 21st century, for crying out loud, and it really shouldn’t matter whether people are gay or straight. We are all part of a common humanity, after all.

Well, aren’t we?

THE BALLAD OF NEIGHBOUR JOE or G-A-Y MEETS H-E-T

I hate queers, neighbour Joe
once said to me, they’re perverts,
don’t you agree?
Not really, I had to say, especially
as I’m gay

He stared, glared, eyes wide
as saucers, lost for words although
his expression said it all;
at last, he managed to get a grip
and curled his lip

Queers deserve to be shot,
he snarled at me, and decent folks
would agree;
I took you for decent, I have to say
but you’re…gay?

I nodded, said conversationally,
so you’ll be getting a gun to shoot me?
He shook his head.
You’re a nice enough person, he said,
I don’t wish you dead

Tell me, he wanted to know,
what it’s all about, this being gay?
Sounds sick to me…
I was taught to loath and despise
(he whispered) ‘sodomy’ 

You have a bad attitude,
I felt inclined to tell him straight,
I’m a top man, me…
but it’s my job pays the mortgage,
not my sexuality

Why should what my partner
and I choose to get up to in bed
matter to you so?
He shook his head, rubbed his jaw,
finally admitted…

I’ll be damned if I know.
You’re right, said neighbour Joe,
it’s none of my business;
blame it on that old song and dance
called ignorance

We shook hands, went on our way,
good neighbours to this day

[From: On The Battlefields Of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]