Nothing says love like poetry. Nothing says queer people like love. So nothing says queer people…like poetry? The logic seemed to hold up to me but it broke down very quickly as I attempted another go at the one form of English writing I have never been able to enjoy.
A collection of queer poetry from across the ages, Gay Love Poetry extends through many of Earth’s civilisations, from millennia past until those in the previous century. Covering a range of forms of love, organised into six distinct sections, readers are taken through the ages of poets and their romantic woes, with its queerness front and centre for all to see.
I’m not a huge poetry fan. I’ve never enjoyed reading or writing it, which definitely wasn’t helped by GCSE English, but I thought I’d give this book a go. And I can now say with modesty and authority, that those feelings are still very real and very apparent. I may have set myself up to fail when embarking on my latest foray into the poetry universe but here we are. But that’s okay, as an anthology the book is sure to have something for even a poetry hater inside right? Wrong. This book was cover-to-cover pain, beating me to confused and annoyed hopelessness with rhyming couplets and non-sensical prose.
I can’t say I really enjoyed any poem in this collection. The only ones I did enjoy were ones which I’m ashamed to admit I could read like a regular section of text (the one time in my life I was actively happy to see something from a Shakespeare play came halfway through this book). Some were easier to read than others, especially those with a regular and formulaic rhyming scheme, but even then I found myself getting into the rhythm of the poem yet not understanding any word except those at the end of the lines. There is some ingenious and beautiful poetry in this book, but it’s not something my brain can get itself around in any sort of enjoyable way.
The main takeaway for me from this book is that I need to watch my poetry intake because just like sweet things, it seems like a good idea at the time, I very quickly come to regret my actions and there’s a strong possibility it will one day be the end of me. I’m sure those of you who enjoy poetry will enjoy this book, especially with the representation it ushers in, but I was so excited to get to the end of this collection & I intend never to return.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Gay Love Poetry (ISBN: 1-85487-917-0) was published in 1997. A copy is available to borrow from the LGBTQ+ Lending Library in the LGBTQ+ Lounge
