http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Today’s poem was inspired by an encounter with a couple of Italian guys in their late 20’s holidaying in London. Apparently, they had been best friends since schooldays but lovers for less than a month. Both excluded a glow guaranteed to warm the cockles of a romantic poet’s heart.
I expressed surprise that it had taken them so long to get together and said I thought it was only the English who were supposed to be reserved to extremes. Catholic guilt, they assured me, can have much the same effect.
Could it be that there has been so much stereotypical rubbish written about gay men for so long that sometimes a more ‘respectable’ and respected socio-cultural-religious take on the integrity of ‘male bonding’ becomes an (almost) acceptable compromise?
ENGAGING WITH A MAX FORCE TORNADO
We were best friends,
though I all but died knowing
how much he meant to me,
left to live for years in the dark
of that killing silence
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
One night he stayed over
after a night painting the town
all the colours of a rainbow
and more (far more) besides...
in an all-revealing spotlight
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they long to share
We chatted over coffee,
lazing on a sofa that had seen us
do much the same
more times than I cared
to remember for the silent agony
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
He flung an arm around me
and my emotions ran the gamut
of love, loneliness, desire,
and more (far more) besides
in that same spotlight
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they need to share
I slid a hand inside his shirt,
let the heat of his body overwhelm
moments of self-restraint
I well recall for years of half-life
kept in a custom built cage
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
When I kissed him on the lips,
his breath inside me was sheer bliss,
taking me to greater heights
than even an imagination up against
a conspiracy of silence
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
we need to show
Within seconds, reality struck,
tearing through my dream-like state
like a max force tornado,
left me (a broken thing) crashing
among such splendid ruins
only dreamers know, where love
is but the sum of its tears for fears
anyone should know
Minutes later, panic subsiding,
I became aware of a hand in my shirt
rising and falling to the rhythm
of twin heartbeats (finally) inspired
to cross some Great Divide
reducing all we same-sex lovers
to tears for its fears before coming
into our own
Copyright R. N. Taber 2013
Today’s poem was inspired by an encounter with a couple of Italian guys in their late 20’s holidaying in London. Apparently, they had been best friends since schooldays but lovers for less than a month. Both excluded a glow guaranteed to warm the cockles of a romantic poet’s heart.
I expressed surprise that it had taken them so long to get together and said I thought it was only the English who were supposed to be reserved to extremes. Catholic guilt, they assured me, can have much the same effect.
Could it be that there has been so much stereotypical rubbish written about gay men for so long that sometimes a more ‘respectable’ and respected socio-cultural-religious take on the integrity of ‘male bonding’ becomes an (almost) acceptable compromise?
ENGAGING WITH A MAX FORCE TORNADO
We were best friends,
though I all but died knowing
how much he meant to me,
left to live for years in the dark
of that killing silence
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
One night he stayed over
after a night painting the town
all the colours of a rainbow
and more (far more) besides...
in an all-revealing spotlight
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they long to share
We chatted over coffee,
lazing on a sofa that had seen us
do much the same
more times than I cared
to remember for the silent agony
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
He flung an arm around me
and my emotions ran the gamut
of love, loneliness, desire,
and more (far more) besides
in that same spotlight
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they need to share
I slid a hand inside his shirt,
let the heat of his body overwhelm
moments of self-restraint
I well recall for years of half-life
kept in a custom built cage
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
they dare not show
When I kissed him on the lips,
his breath inside me was sheer bliss,
taking me to greater heights
than even an imagination up against
a conspiracy of silence
only dreamers know who see
the world through tears for fears
we need to show
Within seconds, reality struck,
tearing through my dream-like state
like a max force tornado,
left me (a broken thing) crashing
among such splendid ruins
only dreamers know, where love
is but the sum of its tears for fears
anyone should know
Minutes later, panic subsiding,
I became aware of a hand in my shirt
rising and falling to the rhythm
of twin heartbeats (finally) inspired
to cross some Great Divide
reducing all we same-sex lovers
to tears for its fears before coming
into our own
Copyright R. N. Taber 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment