http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
The first poem appeared in a
Poetry Now (Forward Press) anthology Within
My Soul in 2004 and in my collection the following year. Both poems can be
found in The Third Eye and I think they
go together well so am including them both here.
After all, we live in hope...and
who knows...?
THE SMILE
The first time I saw your
smile,
I wished it just for me,
inviting these lips to rest a
while,
ease this trembling body
I felt the adrenalin race,
this heart fill to bursting;
Like a brand, your face
on mine slowly burning
I saw us naked in bed,
enjoying the fruits of
passion,
by a mutual loving led...
(All power to illusion?)
“I’m gay,” these eyes
confessed
where your smile chose to
rest
THE KISS
We kissed, a steady flow of
feet
rushing by like overflow
from a gutter… and heard
voices
mutter, ‘It’s not right to do that
in a busy street, would be
different
if they were normal, for
heaven’s
sake! It’s a fine modernity that will
permit promiscuity in full
view
of people going about their
business,
causing no offence, setting
an example to our kids,
keeping
a weather eye on their peers
even if it means getting
paranoid
about tabloid whistle
blowers,
wondering whose head next
will fall,
Big Brother at school, on TV
or at the office making
mischief
while terrorists are
marking
our cards, ready to take
charge - unless
we, in turn, make a stand,
can be sure of dealing
ourselves
a winning hand…’
‘So much to do, think about,
without
having to look at gay folks
kissing
in the street as if they had
as much right
to be there as we everyday
consumers
doing our damn best to rig
share prices
and put the world straight.’
We kissed again, a steady
flow of feet
rushing by like overflow from
a gutter
and voices muttering…
Copyright R. N. Taber 2004; 2010
[Note: Both poems appear in 1st
eds. of The Third Eye by R. N. Taber,
Assembly Books, 2004. The second poem has been slightly revised and will appear
in its present form in a 2nd (revised) e-edition at a later date.]
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