Nancy! Pansy! Poofter! Queer!
Abuse, accuse, and bruise the ear,
And feed on fear.
Nervous youth and frightened boy
Enduring spite that would destroy
Young chance of joy.
Older man and younger friend
Under pressure to pretend
And not offend.
Lifelong partners seek to gain
Acceptance others can obtain
Without pain.
Husband, father, brother, son,
Know the fight is far from won
And fear's not done.
I'm intrigued by the comments on the title. I
guess I sought to be somewhat mischievous by
conjuring up the trait in us that will pose as
"Christian", "caring" and "charitable" etc.,
but then be found wanting in certain vital respects with regard to how we treat our fellow travellers through life.
I think you have come up with a great title, MC, whether it is a perfect match for your poem or not. However, more to the point, I appreciate the message and think it is well written.
Perhaps it's just me, but I stumbled over the metre in a few places; otherwise a good poem, if not 'of a piece' with the title, which speaks to me of a more misanthropic [in the best poss. way] strain than a homophobic one. As I read it [the title, I mean] I thought, 'hello, a poem addressing similar ideas to those propounded by the mighty Bill Hicks RIP'. The first line would make for a brilliant, and apposite, title though.
I think we've come a long way with gay rights. But there will always be people who seek to to isolate/ridicule/hurt those who are not mainstream for whatever reason.
I can remember back in the 80s the girlfriend of a friend of mine being beaten up, making her way home from a gay nightclub. I'm guessing therefore that lesbians do have some homophobia to contend with. No doubt it's worse for gay men though, for the reasons you state, MC.
I'm not sure about the title either but enjoyed the poem, which is effective. It fitted with a discussion this morning led by Rev Bob Callaghan National Co-ordinator of Inclusive Church. The times they certainly are a changing in some quarters. But not others. Yet.
Isobel - from a general perspective I'd say that men are certainly intrigued by a woman to
woman relationship and do not feel "threatened"
as they surely do by the idea that a man might
have the same ideas about his own sex. It may
be ego that enables men - however lacking - to
think they might be "sex objects" for other men
but that ego & unease still exists...hence the
the ongoing undercurrent of "rejection" in society and its effects which I raised in my verse. Is society ever truly "whole" unless it
can accommodate its own humanity/people?
I'm not sure the poem does match the title perfectly. For me the title seems more universal - applying to both sexes - the human race. The poem seems to relate more to men, in particular to how they are guilty of and affected by homophobia. I'm assuming the 3rd verse relates to the difficulty of getting common law gay relationships accepted in the eyes of the law.
A great theme to tackle - I'm sure the same difficulties must be faced by women as well - or is male society more tolerant of lesbians?
<Deleted User> (5560)
Sun 19th Feb 2012 10:53
The world of tense and tentative relationships. I enjoyed your perspective within the poem. The title matches the poem perfectly.
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Joshua Seigal
Sun 26th Feb 2012 00:51
I think Szymborska (sp?) had a quotation similar to the title of this piece. It was about why she defected from communism, and was something like 'I started off with a faith in Mankind, and now I have faith in people'