Guest Speaker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Here is another poem that I came across as I work my way though my later print collections in order to (eventually) post revised editions of all my collections online; it does not appear elsewhere on the blog... (Earlier ones will be more time-consuming as I have since revised many of the poems,) Oh, and anyone interested will also find 'new' poems on my gay-interest poetry blog.
At the time this poem was written, multiculturalism was still finding is way in the UK; although it has been an aspect of society here for years, a growing immigrant population, and a mixed media reaction to it, meant everyone began focusing on the issue with increasing intensity and - as often as not - increasing criticism.Thankfully, most people accept multiculturalism as part of everyday life, but it continues to have its critics, especially where various socio-cultural-religious issues are concerned.
Why, oh, why can't people simply agree to differ and enjoy a feisty debate without recourse to race or gender issues that are no more relevant to the modern world than dinosaurs?
This poem is a kenning or a "Who am I?" poem as the kenning is often called.
GUEST SPEAKER
Here is another poem that I came across as I work my way though my later print collections in order to (eventually) post revised editions of all my collections online; it does not appear elsewhere on the blog... (Earlier ones will be more time-consuming as I have since revised many of the poems,) Oh, and anyone interested will also find 'new' poems on my gay-interest poetry blog.
At the time this poem was written, multiculturalism was still finding is way in the UK; although it has been an aspect of society here for years, a growing immigrant population, and a mixed media reaction to it, meant everyone began focusing on the issue with increasing intensity and - as often as not - increasing criticism.Thankfully, most people accept multiculturalism as part of everyday life, but it continues to have its critics, especially where various socio-cultural-religious issues are concerned.
Why, oh, why can't people simply agree to differ and enjoy a feisty debate without recourse to race or gender issues that are no more relevant to the modern world than dinosaurs?
This poem is a kenning or a "Who am I?" poem as the kenning is often called.
GUEST SPEAKER
I am relatively
new
to the
world’s societies
bent on
testing me
to the
limits of tolerance
towards
a diversity
keen
to embrace everyone,
regardless
of race, sex
or
creed if on its divisions
determined
to feed
I dare
have my say
in
public places, Holy Books,
political
manifestos,
though
adults (as a rule)
less
likely to grasp
what it
is we’re getting at
than
the child at school
asked
what he or she thinks
life is
all about
We have
to live together,
which means
more agreeing
to
differ, if only to defuse
rising discontent
with animosity
dished
up by this culture
or that
religion vying for priority
with
precious little respect
for a
common humanity
Engage with
me, Multiculturalism,
expose any
Politics of Separatism
Copyright R. N. Taber 2010
[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears under the title, 'Footnote to a Treatise on Abuse' in Tracking the Torchbearer, Assembly Books, 2012.]
Labels: culture, diversity, divisions, human, humanity, mind-body-spirit, multiculturalism, nature, poetry, positive, race, reconciliation, religion, society, spirit, thinking, unity
posted by R. N. Taber | 08:07
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