A meeting of kinds

He became human that day

Rubbing shoulders

With life’s betrayed and out casts.

Lit candles to welcome newcomers

Hugged the bi-sexual host

And kissed more transsexuals

Than money could buy.

Shared cake cooked by gay men from Compton Street

Learning their craft from old aunts and grandmothers;

Poured Canada dry and gin into beer mugs

And drank it like Guinness in bars along the lifey river.

Learned about life in quiet lanes and toe paths from

The lesbian middle classes on tour from Hebden Bridge

Quaffed copious amounts of crisps and nibbles

Baked in ovens by vegans from Spain

dressed in Italian olive oil served

By elegant waiters and waitresses from France.

But for all their differences

He realised that life for them

Bleeds just the same.

And poetry speaks in a mutitued of tongues

At duffy's bar where everyone knows your name.