Human Spirit, the Making of Us (All)

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

This poem can also be found in my gay-interest blog archives for May 2012.

There will always be some who refuse to get their heads around the fact that there are millions of us gay people amongst all humankind making as equally valuable a contribution to its humanity as our heterosexual neighbours. The trouble is, humankind comprises multiple closed shops marketing multiple closed hearts under various socio-cultural-religious and political umbrellas. Fortunately, the human spirit is an open house and will yet see the  greater part of humanity prove itself the better for that.

Spirituality emanates from a person's mind-body-spirit; no religion has a monopoly on it. It has always struck me as absurd to suggest that a non-religious person cannot, by default, experience a sense of spirituality; bonding with nature is no less of a spiritual experience than embracing God as defined by whatever dogma. Yes, people will argue for one concept or another, but is it not agreeing to differ that makes us human?

HUMAN SPIRIT, THE MAKING OF US (ALL)

When folks ask why I’m gay,
I tell them I was born this way

Some will say it can’t be true,
any God has better things to do
than create distorted images
to blot humankind’s copybook,
rewrite history’s pages,
make religions take a long look
at themselves, leave cultures
to those power-hungry vultures
that love to preach and lead,
assuming their authority as read

Some suggest my sexuality
is irreconcilable with spirituality;
they, so blessedly taken in
by interpretations of Holy Books,
a case for eternity that brooks
no argument among those afraid
of condoning, let alone trying
to understand bigotry they’re sold
by those we’re told know better
how best we live with one another

People accuse me of blasphemy
(at best, a penchant for immorality)
thus putting me on the defensive
for what has to be a clear distortion
of what Holy Books have in mind
for each person (Oh, so what am I?);
Ah, but taking issue asks we see
how and why there is a place for each
and every one of us, regardless
of ethnicity, creed, sex or sexuality

Those folks who ask why I am as I am
might well ask the same of themselves

Copyright R. N. Taber 2012; 2016

[Note: An earlier draft of this poem under the title ‘Found Wanting' appears in Tracking the Torchbearer by R. N. Taber, Assembly Book, 2012]