TAKE IT LIKE A MAN! The ITMA Book Of “Gay” Verse was published in July 1994 by InƒoText Manuscripts; it was Compiled by Ann R. Soul and Edited by Phil T. Rimmer. We didn’t sell many copies but somebody obviously misread it. Some time after publication, ITMA received a letter from a guy who had obtained a copy through a book distributor; I think he was based in New Zealand or somewhere equally exotic, and said something about including some information about this brilliant gay poet in a bibliography of homosexual writings. Dear, oh dear. I meant to send him a polite reply but mislaid his letter in a pile of correspondence, and haven’t seen it since.

In order, the contents of this fine anthology are The “Love” That Dare Not Speak Its Name, which like The “Love” That Hides Its Head In Shame has an obvious inspiration in the sexual degenerate Oscar Wilde; the latter was published on this website in HTML format on April 8, 2002. Whip Me, Harvey was inspired by the downfall of the MP Harvey Proctor, (as was the earlier sonnet Chief Whip). Big Mart – a horrible man regardless of both his sexual proclivities and his politics; Ode From The Changing Room Shower – yuk; The Positive Alternative – yes, these left wing morons really believe it is. Ode To Colin Ireland – factually accurate; I don’t buy all the garbage about the guy being a repressed homo himself, but obviously he went a mite too far, and had to be taken off the street. Don’t Call It “Gay” – please don’t! Ode To An Anal Orifice was inspired by a drunken performance by a poet in an East London public house circa 1985; I believe he offered his audience Ode To A Vaginal Orifice; I can’t remember his name but his other offering was Premature Ejaculation or “Pree-mature Ejaculation” as he called it. Dying For A Fag and Give Us A Kiss are fairly straightforward; the former was published on this site in HTML format on April 8, 2000. It Turns My Stomach is based on an old joke; Ode To A Terrence Higgins Activist is a sonnet written from the heart; it was published on this site on April 15, 2002. I posted it to CIX, I believe, sometime before that, and needless to say it didn’t go down too well with some faggots. Song Of The Happy Homophobe is another bit of fun, while Jenny Lives With Eric And Martin was inspired by yet another sick attempt to brainwash the young. I’m rather proud of The Song Of Mary Whitehouse, while An Ode To Natural Selection puts the AIDS pandemic in its proper context. Hitler’s Big Mistake is fairly straightforward, while the phrase Here’s Rat Poison For You owes its inspiration to Arnold Leese. The Ballad Of A Well-Greased Bum (A Moral Tale) is similar in content to (though far more explicit than) Al Stewart’s excellent pre-AIDS ballad Pretty Golden Hair, while Don’t Call It Love and Let Nature Take Its Course are low key build ups to Ode To The SLIM Reaper – a fine effort if I say so myself. Finally, I can’t remember who authored Lines On The Resignation Of The Bishop Of Gloucester, but I remember telling him at the time what I thought of it, and I have a feeling that the unnamed Postscript (Slightly altered) was written by a doctor.

December 3, 2009

Click here to download the anthology in Portable Document Format.

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