Accomplices To Illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

Today’s post is duplicated on both poetry blogs as several readers of both have been in touch asking who it was took the photo for the cover of On the Battlefields of Love that I posted the other day. Well, it was my close friend Graham who also designed the cover for my previous collection, Accomplices to Illusion (see below).

Graham has also taken responsibility for my 7^th major collection Tracking the Torchbearer to be published in the spring. [I will post an image once the collection becomes available.] In his job as a graphic designer for a notable Charity, Graham has typeset and produced covers for a number of books for which the Charity has cause to be grateful since there is no denying that his work has encouraged sales and helped raise much needed revenue.

Now, regular readers will know that when I started publishing my collections in 2001, I wondered whether I would sell many if any copies since various poetry publishers were ‘unhappy’ with the idea of my combining gay-interest with more ‘conventional’ themes in one collection; for this reason, I created my own imprint and went ahead anyway. I am delighted to say that I have not only recovered costs with each collection, but also sold enough copies to pay for new print runs and further publications.

Sales of poetry will never be remarkable, but I remain very pleased, especially with positive feedback from gay and straight readers alike. Well, the occasional heterosexual poetry lover has complained about the fact that I include gay material, but this has been the exception rather than the rule. It feels good to have proven various publishers wrong who thought there would be little or no interest in poetry on a gay theme.’ Not only that, but also the fact that I often write ‘form’ poems, use rhyme a lot and even my blank verse poems  and many of often bear little resemblance to the critics’ notion of what comprises modern poetry. If that means I am I am something of an anachronism in poetry circles, I remain a shameless one.

Although my poetry books are only on sale in the UK (and also available in many public libraries), I also sell copies to overseas readers (via PayPal) who email me with enquiries to rogertab@aol.com with ‘Blog reader’ in the subject field. ; I give my blog readers a discount of 35% of  (retail cost + shipping) so please make sure that any initial enquiry includes where in the world you live.

ACCOMPLICES TO ILLUSION

Snowflakes, like miniature chandeliers

performing a magic show

Silvery shadows, dancing across fields

like the homeless at a party

North star, a shiny nugget of white gold;

moon slopes like ski runs

Owl, hunting down the ghosts of spring

to what passes for their fate

White Rabbit knows a trick or two, finds

sanctuary in a storybook

Carrot-nose snowman kept busy posing

for Christmas cards

Churches, mosques, synagogues - iced

like birthday cakes

First light of day, Apollo starts throwing

cold water on it all

Party over, the homeless left to work what

magic they can on a world in denial

{From: Accomplice to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007]