Excerpt
A SONG OF THE EARTH

If life’s journey never easy,
each uphill step we take
carries us closer to an eternity
that we, for ourselves, make
with every kind word spoken
to those worse off than us
yet are dead set against bigotry
and the more reason (surely?)
to be thankful for a better nature
than those whose life history
reads much like a dissertation
on the superiority of those
taking care to stay on the ‘right’
side of sexuality over any
who dare stray beyond the pale
of a convention invariably
bent on the misinterpretation
of all some of us say or do

True, in some parts of the world
laws allow us to be gay,
to live, let live and get married
no matter what bigots say;
true, too, that sticks and stones
can break bones, but less so
that we are left unhurt by names
our so-called betters throw
though any scars we may well
choose not to show but strike
a stoic pose, prepare to battle on
for a way of love we believe in;
let them argue how the world turns
on certain ‘moral norms’
(opening up cans of worms unfit
for even its lower life-forms)
while the rest of us enjoy eternity
in Earth Mother’s arms