NEW POEM: Ted Brown's Kiss

I started a poetry project, in January, that I intend to revisit throughout the year. A project that looks at individuals who have inspired me, the masses and also looks at their work in some cases. Some of the people I have highlighted so far are Bertha Von Suttner, Richard Pryor, Frida Kahlo, Sappho, W.E.B. Du Bois, Wilhelm Röntgen, Capt. Sir Tom Moore, William Thornton, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Margaret Ashton.

Today I look at one the many heroes, often unsung, from the LGBT+ movement, Mr Ted Brown. I won’t go in to huge detail before but should you wish to find a little more about him, his family and the steps he has taken, click here for a great article (once you have read the below poem, of course).

---

Ted Brown’s Kiss

A Poem by Simon Clark

“Some queens with handbags were fighting with the police at a bar in New York. I remember doing cartwheels all around the living room.” – Ted Brown

1969, New York, Stonewall Riots,

A disturbance to the hushed-up darkness,

Where all the queers were kept in quiet,

Marsha blazed against the starkness,

Bias met with disquiet.

Each letter of the alphabet collective,

The kings, the queens, the lesbians, the gays,

The trans members fought words invective,

The knock-on effect showed the ways,

Set out a clear directive.

1972, London, our first Pride,

2000 with Gay Liberation Front,

The ripple moved us to step outside,

Prejudice at last to confront,

The non-white face stood astride.

Ted Brown now met Trafalgar Square and he stopped,

Earned history with hearts on open show,

Started to kiss a man and jaws dropped,

Ripple, the kiss-in was to grow,

2000 lips; hatred swapped.

Ted Brown’s kiss-in helped to change some minds and more,

Loving mouths indignant with friendliness,

Just 3 years since riots rocked our core,

Their heads held high with steadiness,

Some cartwheeled across the floor.

Some are cartwheeling still Ted Brown; still kissing.

© Simon Clark 2021