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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Diversity Studies - 1. Diversity Studies


So much is happening these days, I could not concentrate on an aspect of Diversity to write on for the longest time. These are what settled into my mind late in March.

Diversity Studies

 

We all know

labels can mislead us,

for what’s in a bottle may not bear

much resemblance to the details on the sticker,

yet we often let their messages

lead us to miss treasures

before us.

So it was

at the corner wine shop

where I had met friends of many kinds,

but none like them stocking shelves with new vintages,

intriguing in their androgyny

and willing to meet up

after work;

That first kiss,

electric and yet shy,

tasted so unlike to his or hers;

theirs lingered sweeter yet more supple on the tongue,

unexpected to this connoisseur,

yet promising more than

all the rest.

So I ask:

why presume to insist

that everyone wear lifetime labels

if we can’t all believe such things to be as true

as kisses underneath the streetlights

or laughter in the rain

or their love?

 

 

~ ~ ~

 

Explain to me how we are so beset

by those who choose no gender as their mark,

what danger do they pose?

What storms from their internal tempests rose?

If they upon a lonely sea embark

and on their tallest masts their colors let

the wind unfurl them to the empty sky,

what consequence is it to you and I?

 

I’ve heard some say a threat must needs exist

if people choose no gender absolute,

or dance a different way

to what appeared upon their natal day;

yet I can’t see how this one attribute

imperils the emerged christophilist

or subjects them to scriptural constraint

in loving as oneself both sot and saint.

 

Our puritans protest too much, I think

for they forget what’s written in the book

Judge not, lest ye be judged –

but fabulate that Jesus would have grudged

to sit beside and bless those who might look

as if they should prefer to dress in pink

or change the gender of their underwear

while all the scribes and pharisees stood there.


Thank you for reading these. I grateful for your taking the time to do so. Any comment you may leave, positive or negative, is appreciated.
Copyright © 2025 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

  • Popular Comment
Bill W
  • Popular Comment

As always, Parker, a wonderful collection, and very thought provoking, which leads me to a question.  

That first kiss,

electric and yet shy,

tasted so unlike to his or hers;

theirs lingered sweeter yet more supple on the tongue,

unexpected to this connoisseur,

yet promising more than

all the rest. 

 

How much of a connoisseur of fine kisses are you?  :gikkle:

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  • Popular Comment
Parker Owens
  • Popular Comment
7 hours ago, weinerdog said:

I’ve heard some say a threat must needs exist

if people choose no gender absolute,

or dance a different way

to what appeared upon their natal day;

If someone was hanging on for their life on an edge of a cliff would said person care about  any of that if someone as described above showed up at that moment?

 I doubt very much that such an unfortunate cliff-hanging individual would fuss about the gender identity of any potential rescuer. Thanks for framing things that way. 

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Parker Owens
  • Popular Comment
2 hours ago, Bill W said:

As always, Parker, a wonderful collection, and very thought provoking, which leads me to a question.  

That first kiss,

electric and yet shy,

tasted so unlike to his or hers;

theirs lingered sweeter yet more supple on the tongue,

unexpected to this connoisseur,

yet promising more than

all the rest. 

 

How much of a connoisseur of fine kisses are you?  :gikkle:

I enjoy collecting kisses. Thanks for reading! 

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  • Popular Comment
Parker Owens
  • Popular Comment
16 minutes ago, pvtguy said:

Your challenge to the christophilists is wonderful and needed!  This is a powerful statement made by a tremendously gifted poet!!!

Christopilists was a fun word to construct for this poem. And you’re definitely right that they need to be challenged. Thanks for all of your thoughts and comments. 

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drsawzall
  • Popular Comment

The following snippets truly spoke out to me...Thank you!!!

So I ask:

why presume to insist

that everyone wear lifetime labels

if we can’t all believe such things to be as true

as kisses underneath the streetlights

or laughter in the rain

or their love?

********

Our puritans protest too much, I think

for they forget what’s written in the book

Judge not, lest ye be judged –

but fabulate that Jesus would have grudged

to sit beside and bless those who might look

as if they should prefer to dress in pink

or change the gender of their underwear

while all the scribes and pharisees stood there.

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  • Popular Comment
Tim Hobson
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labels can mislead us

Oh, how sad but true! For some reason, there are people who feel they must label everything. I believe they do it to contain, control, and condemn, and woe unto anyone who tries to reject, escape, or change a label once it is assigned. But worse still is one who takes advantage of the aversions of others to grasp onto power and cling to it.

  • Love 7
Parker Owens
4 hours ago, Tim Hobson said:

labels can mislead us

Oh, how sad but true! For some reason, there are people who feel they must label everything. I believe they do it to contain, control, and condemn, and woe unto anyone who tries to reject, escape, or change a label once it is assigned. But worse still is one who takes advantage of the aversions of others to grasp onto power and cling to it.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reactions to these. How hard it is to escape the influence of labels and expectations! And the self-appointed enforcers of these rules and labels seem ever more cruel. Thank you again. 

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Parker Owens
3 hours ago, centexhairysub said:

Simply beautifully written and so timely and true.  

If you label something, even incorrectly, you can put it in a box and praise or demonize it you your hearts content.  

Thank you very much for reading these.  It should not matter what colors you wear or what banner you fly, yet some people make a huge deal of it. 

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  • Site Administrator
Valkyrie
  • Site Administrator

Two wonderful, thought-provoking poems; so well-written, as always.  My BFF's non-binary child has an interesting take on labels.  They said that labels can be helpful when trying to find like-minded people, which makes total sense to me.  It doesn't mean that label has to stick, though.  Unfortunately, there are people that would use those labels against us, and the label certainly does not make the person.   I feel and share your anger in the second poem.  I am lucky in that I grew up in a progressive church, where everyone has always been welcome.  Sadly, I know that is not the case for everyone.  Thank you for sharing these with us.  :hug:  

  • Love 1
Parker Owens
12 hours ago, Valkyrie said:

Two wonderful, thought-provoking poems; so well-written, as always.  My BFF's non-binary child has an interesting take on labels.  They said that labels can be helpful when trying to find like-minded people, which makes total sense to me.  It doesn't mean that label has to stick, though.  Unfortunately, there are people that would use those labels against us, and the label certainly does not make the person.   I feel and share your anger in the second poem.  I am lucky in that I grew up in a progressive church, where everyone has always been welcome.  Sadly, I know that is not the case for everyone.  Thank you for sharing these with us.  :hug:  

Thanks for your kind and encouraging words. I won’t rant, but I have to say that deliberate misreading of religious text for political gain makes my teeth grind. Labels may be convenient, but they mustn’t be used to deny anyone’s essential humanity and value. Thanks again for reading these! 

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