Saturday, 1 June 2013

Oasis OR The Agony and the Ecstasy of Wishful Thinking


How do we know if we can make it to what we see as our main goal in life or is it just a mirage?

Ah, but is that a trick question? If so, I could it not be that the trick is never to stop looking for answers?

Who knows? We might even be pleasantly surprised at what we discover. Take world peace for example, not to mention our own peace of mind…

As for me, not only a poet but also gay, what can I do but run with Apollo, and love it? For Apollo, the sun god, was not only a source of light and warmth but also bisexual, according to myths and legends that were oases in a hostile, concrete desert to a young Roger T.

OASIS OR THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF WISHFUL THINKING

I have risen with Apollo
and strolled among hanging gardens,
each smelling of its season,
bursting with colour, filling the eye
with those that thirst,
and fall on their knees at an oasis
that beggars belief

I have run with Apollo
among bodies strewn like careless litter,
each smelling of its season,
caked in blood, filling averted eyes
with tears as useless
as grains of sand around an oasis
that beggars belief

I have paused with Apollo
and looked back at where high noon
has taken no prisoners,
each grave smelling of its seasons
to those of us who thirst,
risen above tears to defend an oasis
that beggars belief

I have retreated with Apollo
from the battlefield, without conceding
to a huntress moon
any victory of sorts since she selects
her prey at no less a whim
than those of us thirsting at an oasis
that beggars belief

Poor humanity, left reeling from its brief
to thirst at oases that beggar belief


Copyright R. N. Taber 2010; 2013

No comments: