Many thanks to those readers who have been in touch to wish me luck with my novel, Catching up with Murder
I am not a 'great' writer nor do I profess to be, but people often tell me I tell a good tale and that's always music to my ears. My mother used to read me stories as a child and I became an avid reader. She used to read me 'story' poems too; The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and The Ancient Mariner by Coleridge were my favourites. I guess that's why many of my poems tell a story. I am always thrilled when readers get in touch to say they enjoy my 'story' poems.
For years, my favourite port of call has been my local public library; as a child and young adult, long before I became a professional librarian. Sadly, many public libraries are being forced to close here in the UK due to government cutbacks. It is very sad, and I say than not only as a librarian who has worked in public libraries most of my working life but also as someone who has seen at first hand the sense of community that libraries inspire. The library is also a treasure house of information. Some people say that books are going out of fashion and people can get all the information they want from the Internet. Me, I think it will be many years yet before books go out of fashion and, yes, the Internet is a wonderful information resource, but many people still cannot access it, let alone use it quickly and efficiently as well trained library staff.
For children, the library is magical and introduces them to a whole new world of storybooks and learning. Busy adults may neglect their local library, but those children who have fond memories of going there will nearly always return to it, in later years, perhaps with their own children.
In my view, local councils across the UK are being very short-sighted in closing so many libraries. Once a library has been closed, I fear it will never re-open and a valuable community resource will have been lost forever.
Meanwhile...
It can take a long time to get a poem right. Some readers may recognise parts of this poem. It appeared on the blog some time ago under a different title; I have also changed the final couplet. While I have always liked the poem, it has never quite worked for me until now. I can only hope some readers will find that it works for them too.
Ironically, given the attitude of many Christians towards gay people, one of the earliest gay icons was Saint Sebastian, a Christian saint and martyr who has fascinated artists both gay and straight for centuries. I dare say it was not by chance that Tennessee Williams chose to use that name for the martyred character Sebastian in his play, Suddenly, Last Summer. The name was also used by Oscar Wilde (as Sebastian Melmoth) when in exile after his release from prison.
My first introduction to Saint Sebastian was Derek Jarman’s brilliant retelling of his tragic tale in the movie, Sebastiane.
This poem is a kenning.
IN PRAISE OF SAINT SEBASTIAN
Dream icon, kept alive
for centuries, through thick and thin,
peace and war,
harvest or famine, drought or flood,
a hope for better times
that will look kindly upon us all
as we pursue the birthright
for which we were intended,
come calm or squall
Dream icon, kept alive
for centuries, though an inhumanity
persist in its persecution
of those daring to resist, question
layers of convention
piled high upon cherished tradition
seeing its better values
perish in faces putting matches
to oil in troubled waters
Dream icon, kept alive
for centuries, despised by the many,
respected by the few,
(understood by fewer still) until
a gradual progression
of wider education came to fruition,
finding compassion, admiration
for my tenacity, a growing empathy
with my humanity
I share the agony and ecstasy of pillows
left tearful for the world’s gay lovers
Copyright R. N. Taber 2009; 2011, 2021
[Note: The poem first appeared on the blog under the title Sebastian; I have since revised it and gave it the title you see now in 2021.]
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