http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
[Update, November 2018: 'The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt, is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2016.' - Wikipedia.]
I am often asked to repeat the link to my poetry reading in Trafalgar Square as my contribution to Antony Gormley's 'live' scuplture in Trafalgar Square. summer 2009, One and Other; it lasts an hour:
http://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100223121732/oneandother.co.uk/participants/Roger_T [For now, at least, this link needs the latest Adobe Flash Player and works best in Firefox; the archives website cannot run Flash but changes scheduled for later this year may well mean the link will open without it. Ignore any error message and give it a minute or so to start up. The video lasts an hour. ] RT 3/18
Among all the poems I have written, today's poem is a particular favourite; it first appeared as Pride in a selection of poems August and Genet, Aramby Publications, 1996 (Wire Booklet Series No. 12). I was never quite happy with the title and changed it after experiencing the privilege of viewing part of the AIDS quilt during a trip to San Francisco in 1999. The poem first appeared under its new title in an anthology, A Search For The Truth, Poetry Now (Forward Press) 2000 then in my first collection. I have read it at most poetry readings I’ve given around the UK and am delighted to say it has always been well received by audiences at gay and general events alike.
I have always felt passionately that HIV-AIDS Awareness should be far better promoted in societies worldwide. So (as regular readers will know) I was delighted to write a poem for DAMSET, an Educational Trust that has created a memorial mural for those across Dorset who have died of AIDS. The project involved going into local schools and many children created designs for the tiles on the mural. It was a labour of love; everyone involved put in a lot of hard work and gave up much of their time to see the project through to its inauguration on World AIDS Day 2010. I feel very privileged that my poem is also included on the mural. It is a beautifully conceived project and has done much to promote HIV-Awareness across Dorset and also the UK, especially as the mural is close to the pier entrance in Bournemouth and will be seen by many tourists to this lovely seaside town as well as local people for years to come. (I included the poem in my Trafalgar Square reading.)
For more information about DAMSET go to: http://damset.co.uk/
Life, death...we must learn to live with both. Are we up to the challenge? Do we have a choice? No, so we might as well give positive thinking a run for its money, yeah?
THE QUILT MAKERS' SONG
Life! Let me not hunger
for all I cannot be, but
suffer me a passion for
what’s gone before;
Let me build cathedrals,
flare them high, dedicated
to my better selves
so they may rest easy
in a shade, against crosses
made by matchstick men,
losses we shall count again
when the time comes
to account for more
than dreams. Life, not
all it seems
Love! Let me not beg
at the roadside, but
give freely and let’s
paint pictures to last
centuries, windows
stained with all the colours
of our love-making;
Let those who come after us
be together in their turn
and lift an eye for knowing
this; and we shall share
each kiss again, again
again – we matchstick
men. Love, not
all our pain
Death! Let me not weep
for those I have loved;
Let there be candles lit
in each airy cathedral,
saintly with sunshine,
ringing out with rain, our
seasons come again!
Smiles of joy among the tears
to mark this, the salvation
of our fears, a passing
through chance memories,
celebration of our years;
Butterfly wings across
a garden. Dead, and
who’s forgiven?
Copyright R N Taber 2000
[From: Love And Human Remains (a misprint in some eds.) by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2000 and as an Appendix in First Person Plural, Assembly Books, 2002.]
[Update, November 2018: 'The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, often abbreviated to AIDS Memorial Quilt, is an enormous quilt made as a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of AIDS-related causes. Weighing an estimated 54 tons, it is the largest piece of community folk art in the world as of 2016.' - Wikipedia.]
I am often asked to repeat the link to my poetry reading in Trafalgar Square as my contribution to Antony Gormley's 'live' scuplture in Trafalgar Square. summer 2009, One and Other; it lasts an hour:
http://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20100223121732/oneandother.co.uk/participants/Roger_T [For now, at least, this link needs the latest Adobe Flash Player and works best in Firefox; the archives website cannot run Flash but changes scheduled for later this year may well mean the link will open without it. Ignore any error message and give it a minute or so to start up. The video lasts an hour. ] RT 3/18
Among all the poems I have written, today's poem is a particular favourite; it first appeared as Pride in a selection of poems August and Genet, Aramby Publications, 1996 (Wire Booklet Series No. 12). I was never quite happy with the title and changed it after experiencing the privilege of viewing part of the AIDS quilt during a trip to San Francisco in 1999. The poem first appeared under its new title in an anthology, A Search For The Truth, Poetry Now (Forward Press) 2000 then in my first collection. I have read it at most poetry readings I’ve given around the UK and am delighted to say it has always been well received by audiences at gay and general events alike.
I have always felt passionately that HIV-AIDS Awareness should be far better promoted in societies worldwide. So (as regular readers will know) I was delighted to write a poem for DAMSET, an Educational Trust that has created a memorial mural for those across Dorset who have died of AIDS. The project involved going into local schools and many children created designs for the tiles on the mural. It was a labour of love; everyone involved put in a lot of hard work and gave up much of their time to see the project through to its inauguration on World AIDS Day 2010. I feel very privileged that my poem is also included on the mural. It is a beautifully conceived project and has done much to promote HIV-Awareness across Dorset and also the UK, especially as the mural is close to the pier entrance in Bournemouth and will be seen by many tourists to this lovely seaside town as well as local people for years to come. (I included the poem in my Trafalgar Square reading.)
For more information about DAMSET go to: http://damset.co.uk/
Life, death...we must learn to live with both. Are we up to the challenge? Do we have a choice? No, so we might as well give positive thinking a run for its money, yeah?
THE QUILT MAKERS' SONG
Life! Let me not hunger
for all I cannot be, but
suffer me a passion for
what’s gone before;
Let me build cathedrals,
flare them high, dedicated
to my better selves
so they may rest easy
in a shade, against crosses
made by matchstick men,
losses we shall count again
when the time comes
to account for more
than dreams. Life, not
all it seems
Love! Let me not beg
at the roadside, but
give freely and let’s
paint pictures to last
centuries, windows
stained with all the colours
of our love-making;
Let those who come after us
be together in their turn
and lift an eye for knowing
this; and we shall share
each kiss again, again
again – we matchstick
men. Love, not
all our pain
Death! Let me not weep
for those I have loved;
Let there be candles lit
in each airy cathedral,
saintly with sunshine,
ringing out with rain, our
seasons come again!
Smiles of joy among the tears
to mark this, the salvation
of our fears, a passing
through chance memories,
celebration of our years;
Butterfly wings across
a garden. Dead, and
who’s forgiven?
Copyright R N Taber 2000
[From: Love And Human Remains (a misprint in some eds.) by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2000 and as an Appendix in First Person Plural, Assembly Books, 2002.]
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