THREE NEW POEMS: Fight On, Stand Up, and Recipe for Protest

This LGBT+ History Month (U.K.) S P Clark is sharing 20 new poems to mark the 20th anniversary of this historic celebration of the LGBT+ community and its contribution to society. Each poem celebrates S P Clark's own journey navigating his way through the world as a member of the LGBT+ Community. The following three poems look at the importance of protest, how protest can be useful and how it can also be a draining journey to reach the point of protest.

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Fight On

Written to coincide with LGBT+ History Month (U.K.) 2025

It’s hard to fight on when there’s an endless stream of spiteful words

Words like daggers plunged into the core of who we are

Slurs and slanders that we’ve heard before

My skin has grown thinner and it hurts even more as I watch our community edge our way back towards the closet door

Just to feel safe.

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Stand Up

Written to coincide with LGBT+ History Month (U.K.) 2025

As the voices of ignorance combine with the voices of hate

As you watch rights being rolled back in front of your eyes

As you watch the powerful stamp ever harder on the small

You’ll realise it’s not time to cry

It’s time to stand up, speak out

United we stand, divided we fall.

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Recipe for Protest

Written to coincide with LGBT+ History Month (U.K.) 2025

Protest is a dish that your body doesn’t just fancy or crave.  It needs to be made.  It’s made when desperately required.  Required like the air we breathe.

Serves

Humanity

Ingredients

1 cup of fear

2 cups of sadness

4 heaped tbsp. of pain

6 pints of outrage

1 community

Love

Method

1.    Take your cup of fear, brim-full, and stare at it hard until the fear begins to turn into steam and evaporate.  Poke the dregs away.  You only need the agitated condensation that’s left behind to propel you

2.    Lift both cups of sadness until they shine in the light.  The tear-filled cups will gleam in the sunshine and create a beautiful rainbow.  As the rainbow starts to appear you can move onto steps 3 and 4

3.    Empty your 4 heaped tbsp. of pain into the skillet, and slowly fold together until the pain has reduced.  Reduced to almost nothing that you feel.  Let it caramelise until you have a golden halo shimmering around the edges of your pain.

4.    Take your 6 pints of outrage and slowly pour them into your soul, stopping to breathe.  Rage will spoil the mixture.  You want to feel the bubbling, fat-spitting outrage.  As it burns your core, you are ready to move onto the next step

5.    Now whisk the outrage into a foam of determination.  The more you whisk, the brighter the rainbow from the cups of sadness will glow

6.    Gently combine the determination and rainbow.  You don’t want a mushy texture – it must be slightly al dente.  Slightly hard and crisp

7.    Take this mixture, and your story, to the whole community 

8.    Join together in love and protest for your rights, for the rights of each other

Tips

·      We are stronger together

·      The rainbow may sometimes have different shades but that’s okay – it will show what it needs to show 

·      This dish is best served hot – but coolly considered in the making

For more recipe ideas please see the pioneers who have trodden this path before.

© S P Clark

You can purchase more S P Clark poetry on LGBTQ+ love by clicking the links below:

1. The Journey To Love: (A Long Weekend Away - Thursday to Tuesday)

2. TWO MEN, ONE LOVE

3. To view the full range of S P Clark's releases, click here