http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
I must thank all those readers who have been in touch to ask after my health. I am fine, just tired.
The phrase ‘prostate cancer’ strikes fear into the hearts of many men. It is a fact, however, that more men live with it than die from it. Even so, if treatment is advisable, as in my case...Well, no treatment is without risk. I will just have to take each day as it comes.
Fear not, dear readers, there is absolutely no likelihood of the Grim Reaper having his wicked way with me for a few years yet.
I really am very positive about the cancer, but can’t deny it gets a little scary sometimes. Right now, writing up the blog, I feel fine. (Yes, I do, really!) I expect to have good days and bad days, but remain determined that the latter shall be kept to a minimum. Physically, I am in good shape and have no pain whatsoever. The battle is more of a mental one; living with the knowledge that the cancer is there inside me, and knowing the treatment will leave me impotent. However, regarding the latter, I am assured there is an 80% chance that something like Viagra or Tadalafil will do the trick should I ever need it. It shouldn’t bother me since, at 65 years-old, I haven’t been sexually active for a while. Even so, I guess it has to do with my manhood feeling threatened.
Mostly, I rise above any feelings of inadequacy and threat, but every so often they strike and refuse to go away. Yet, a long, leisurely stroll on lovely Hampstead Heath, barely fifteen minutes walk from my front door, invariably restores me to positive thinking mode. As I live alone now, I am also very fortunate to have some very good friends who help me keep a sense of perspective. It is always good to talk things over with friends when troubled.
Having (eventually) decided against radiotherapy and opted for hormone therapy instead, I will have to live with prostate cancer for the rest of my life, all the more reason for...
Carpe Diem.
Besides...
How can I worry about prostate cancer when there is a beautiful spring to enjoy? Oh, and I mean to enjoy every splendid minute of it.
[Update (August 2013): Spring may be a while coming yet, but as so few of my gay-interest poems get published apart from in my own collections, I thought readers might be interested to know that this one has recently been accepted for publication by Forward Poetry in its forthcoming anthology, Spirit of Spring.]
A BALLAD FOR SPRING
We carved our initials on a tree
one beautiful spring day,
asked a bird to tell the world
we’re proud and gay
It was a swallow told its chicks,
as in the nest they lay,
don’t be afraid to sing the words,
proud and gay
We made love beneath that tree
one beautiful summer’s day
while swallows sang love songs,
proud and gay
Autumn sent the swallows south,
and my lover went away;
I could hear a north wind curse us,
proud and gay
Winter, it melted away into spring,
as poets like to say,
and the tree read love poems to me,
proud and gay
We put our lips to initials on the tree
one beautiful spring day,
thanks for a swallow’s reuniting us,
proud and gay
Copyright R. N. Taber 2011
I must thank all those readers who have been in touch to ask after my health. I am fine, just tired.
The phrase ‘prostate cancer’ strikes fear into the hearts of many men. It is a fact, however, that more men live with it than die from it. Even so, if treatment is advisable, as in my case...Well, no treatment is without risk. I will just have to take each day as it comes.
Fear not, dear readers, there is absolutely no likelihood of the Grim Reaper having his wicked way with me for a few years yet.
I really am very positive about the cancer, but can’t deny it gets a little scary sometimes. Right now, writing up the blog, I feel fine. (Yes, I do, really!) I expect to have good days and bad days, but remain determined that the latter shall be kept to a minimum. Physically, I am in good shape and have no pain whatsoever. The battle is more of a mental one; living with the knowledge that the cancer is there inside me, and knowing the treatment will leave me impotent. However, regarding the latter, I am assured there is an 80% chance that something like Viagra or Tadalafil will do the trick should I ever need it. It shouldn’t bother me since, at 65 years-old, I haven’t been sexually active for a while. Even so, I guess it has to do with my manhood feeling threatened.
Mostly, I rise above any feelings of inadequacy and threat, but every so often they strike and refuse to go away. Yet, a long, leisurely stroll on lovely Hampstead Heath, barely fifteen minutes walk from my front door, invariably restores me to positive thinking mode. As I live alone now, I am also very fortunate to have some very good friends who help me keep a sense of perspective. It is always good to talk things over with friends when troubled.
Having (eventually) decided against radiotherapy and opted for hormone therapy instead, I will have to live with prostate cancer for the rest of my life, all the more reason for...
Carpe Diem.
Besides...
How can I worry about prostate cancer when there is a beautiful spring to enjoy? Oh, and I mean to enjoy every splendid minute of it.
[Update (August 2013): Spring may be a while coming yet, but as so few of my gay-interest poems get published apart from in my own collections, I thought readers might be interested to know that this one has recently been accepted for publication by Forward Poetry in its forthcoming anthology, Spirit of Spring.]
A BALLAD FOR SPRING
We carved our initials on a tree
one beautiful spring day,
asked a bird to tell the world
we’re proud and gay
It was a swallow told its chicks,
as in the nest they lay,
don’t be afraid to sing the words,
proud and gay
We made love beneath that tree
one beautiful summer’s day
while swallows sang love songs,
proud and gay
Autumn sent the swallows south,
and my lover went away;
I could hear a north wind curse us,
proud and gay
Winter, it melted away into spring,
as poets like to say,
and the tree read love poems to me,
proud and gay
We put our lips to initials on the tree
one beautiful spring day,
thanks for a swallow’s reuniting us,
proud and gay
Copyright R. N. Taber 2011
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