http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
I have been posting poems on the blogs for ten years now. A few years into the writing them up, a reader asked why I have two blogs, especially as I have made the point more than once that a poem is a poem is a poems just as a person is a person is a person, regardless. I could not agree more, but feedback had suggested (and continues to do so) that many gay readers share a home computer and have not yet felt able to discuss their sexuality with family and friends while they are still thinking it through themselves; for this reason they will not risk accessing this blog...for now, at least. I have tried to compensate by posting gay-interest poems on my general blog from time to time; is is not insignificant that feedback suggests these have been more kindly received in its latter than earlier years. All readers have to remember, too, that gay readers from 65+ countries access my blogs, and in some of these countries same sex relationships remain a criminal offence, punishable by a lengthy prison sentence, even death.
At the same time, feedback also suggests that a good many heterosexual readers never access this gay-interest blog because, as one readers puts it, "I would not want people to get the wrong idea."; this, from reader who says he has no problem with gay people, and describes himself and his girlfriend as "a very gay-friendly couple". So what is he worried about, that visiting a gay blog might suggest to someone that he is bisexual? It would certainly open up an interesting discussion about sexuality if the other person were to voice their suspicions. Ah, but such is human nature that the chances are they would not if only for fear of causing offence. It remains a sad fact of life in the 21st century that our sexuality can still cause offence to some, if not many, unless it fits neatly into some conventional box labelled 'Heterosexual'.) Communication demands two-way traffic. Human nature is - and has always been - as hung-up on certain 'taboos' as its faux stereotypes; nor is sexuality the only taboo, of course, any more than LGBT folks are alone among those paying a heavy price for road works signalling one-way traffic on the communication highway.
For awhile, at least, I will try publishing posts/poems on both blogs unless a poem is overtly gay in content to the extent it is unlikely any die-hard heterosexual would want to read it anyway.
Here we go then, with a poem I published on my general blog only yesterday, but if you want to read the preamble that precedes it there, you will need to go to the blog at:
https://rogertab.blogspot.com
COMING, READY OR NOT
Patch of sky, a brilliant blue
among autumn leaves of red and gold
marking nature's 'live' show
for seeing eye and listening ear
to share one last fling
of a year's fruitfulness before winter
comes (for better, for worse)
Clouds gathering, anxious
not to play second fiddle to a spectacle.
of bright silvery sunlight,
like tears in time's eye, a curtain
sure to fall yet anxious
to be seen entering into the feisty spirit
of things, no missing out
Curtain down on autumn's
show of defiance meant to drive home
its alliance with all things
bright and beautiful, all creatures
great and small, promising
renewal despite a winter as certain to take
its toll as snow sure to fall
Barely have autumn's players
taken a last bow than a cruel north wind,
come to see them on their way,
stirs an out-of-sight, out-of-mind ethos
intended to undermine
any mind-body-spirit that might see itself
as the greater life force
Nature, though, is not yet done
with us, relying on its evergreens to bring
to mind its promises, the likes
of robin redbreast to keep eyes and ears
alert to that same spirit
of hopeful discontent that has seen humanity
rise above its worst winters
Curtain rising, all in due course,
but what is this? An empty stage, no players
rehearsed to act out another cycle
of life personifying humankind's attention
to nurture while promoting
a well-meaningfulness, stage name 'Progress'
for want of a better moniker
It is in the nature of humankind
to improve its lot, no matter the cost, whatever
it takes, but plenty signs already
of nature's ability to match any human spirit,
consequences for consequences,
cost for cost, winner takes all, and may the devil
take the hindmost, ready or not
Copyright R. N. Taber 2019
[Note: Feedback - to rogertab@aol.com - is always welcome, and I will always reply to any genuine comments or questions; any spam will be ignored and instantly deleted.]
I have been posting poems on the blogs for ten years now. A few years into the writing them up, a reader asked why I have two blogs, especially as I have made the point more than once that a poem is a poem is a poems just as a person is a person is a person, regardless. I could not agree more, but feedback had suggested (and continues to do so) that many gay readers share a home computer and have not yet felt able to discuss their sexuality with family and friends while they are still thinking it through themselves; for this reason they will not risk accessing this blog...for now, at least. I have tried to compensate by posting gay-interest poems on my general blog from time to time; is is not insignificant that feedback suggests these have been more kindly received in its latter than earlier years. All readers have to remember, too, that gay readers from 65+ countries access my blogs, and in some of these countries same sex relationships remain a criminal offence, punishable by a lengthy prison sentence, even death.
At the same time, feedback also suggests that a good many heterosexual readers never access this gay-interest blog because, as one readers puts it, "I would not want people to get the wrong idea."; this, from reader who says he has no problem with gay people, and describes himself and his girlfriend as "a very gay-friendly couple". So what is he worried about, that visiting a gay blog might suggest to someone that he is bisexual? It would certainly open up an interesting discussion about sexuality if the other person were to voice their suspicions. Ah, but such is human nature that the chances are they would not if only for fear of causing offence. It remains a sad fact of life in the 21st century that our sexuality can still cause offence to some, if not many, unless it fits neatly into some conventional box labelled 'Heterosexual'.) Communication demands two-way traffic. Human nature is - and has always been - as hung-up on certain 'taboos' as its faux stereotypes; nor is sexuality the only taboo, of course, any more than LGBT folks are alone among those paying a heavy price for road works signalling one-way traffic on the communication highway.
For awhile, at least, I will try publishing posts/poems on both blogs unless a poem is overtly gay in content to the extent it is unlikely any die-hard heterosexual would want to read it anyway.
Here we go then, with a poem I published on my general blog only yesterday, but if you want to read the preamble that precedes it there, you will need to go to the blog at:
https://rogertab.blogspot.com
COMING, READY OR NOT
Patch of sky, a brilliant blue
among autumn leaves of red and gold
marking nature's 'live' show
for seeing eye and listening ear
to share one last fling
of a year's fruitfulness before winter
comes (for better, for worse)
Clouds gathering, anxious
not to play second fiddle to a spectacle.
of bright silvery sunlight,
like tears in time's eye, a curtain
sure to fall yet anxious
to be seen entering into the feisty spirit
of things, no missing out
Curtain down on autumn's
show of defiance meant to drive home
its alliance with all things
bright and beautiful, all creatures
great and small, promising
renewal despite a winter as certain to take
its toll as snow sure to fall
Barely have autumn's players
taken a last bow than a cruel north wind,
come to see them on their way,
stirs an out-of-sight, out-of-mind ethos
intended to undermine
any mind-body-spirit that might see itself
as the greater life force
Nature, though, is not yet done
with us, relying on its evergreens to bring
to mind its promises, the likes
of robin redbreast to keep eyes and ears
alert to that same spirit
of hopeful discontent that has seen humanity
rise above its worst winters
Curtain rising, all in due course,
but what is this? An empty stage, no players
rehearsed to act out another cycle
of life personifying humankind's attention
to nurture while promoting
a well-meaningfulness, stage name 'Progress'
for want of a better moniker
It is in the nature of humankind
to improve its lot, no matter the cost, whatever
it takes, but plenty signs already
of nature's ability to match any human spirit,
consequences for consequences,
cost for cost, winner takes all, and may the devil
take the hindmost, ready or not
Copyright R. N. Taber 2019
[Note: Feedback - to rogertab@aol.com - is always welcome, and I will always reply to any genuine comments or questions; any spam will be ignored and instantly deleted.]
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