Flight of the Bluebird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

When I first started posting the poetry blogs ten years ago, it soon  became clear that I needed to keep them separate as most readers  were not inclined o visit both, It is encouraging, therefore, that since I began posting poems retrospectively from one blog to the other, feedback has been very positive.This poem was posted on my general poetry blog in April 2015 and was inspired by a growing interest in memorial woodlands since attending a funeral service at one some time ago. Hopefully, it will be read as it was written, in inspirational not morbid mode.[To read the original post, go to the April 2015 archives on the right hand side of any blog page.]

Someone once told me that love is the dare only a fool will refuse. Well, not everyone will accept a dare, and that doesn’t make him or her a fool, but when it is love - whatever our ethnicity, creed, sex or sexuality - the chances are we risk a lifetime of regret by walking away.

The same person told me the Bluebird of Happiness is just a dream, but how like all the best dreams, we would do well to spot it if we can, and be thus inspired to keep the memory alive evermore by going for it. Yes, giving a dream a go can be a win-or-lose affair, but better to have fun losing then regret not having tried, surely? (In that sense, every loser, too, is a winner.) We can't all win jackpots, but it is open to any of us - whatever our gender, ethnicity or socio-cultural background - to turn a deaf ear to the naysayers, and see where chasing that special dream might lead...

Good luck, folks!

FLIGHT OF THE BLUEBIRD

There are woodlands where I go

whenever life finds me feeling low;

I have but pause beneath a tree,

see its branches shape our history

for letting the Bluebird of Happiness

work its magic on me

I feel the pull of Memory Lane

to peace of mind, away from pain;

among the lines in your fair face,

subtle comforts of a warm embrace,

the finest poems of earth and sky

recalling the love we dared, you and I,

young and impatient (even grown)

anxious to be seen wearing its crown

where bluebirds in twilight’s lace

perform evergreen images of grace

Though winter bite, nature rest,

in love and renewal we dare trust,

have but to pause beneath a tree,

see its branches shape our history

for letting the Bluebird of Happiness
work its magic on us

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010; 2015

[Note: Revised (2015) from an earlier version that first appeared in an anthology, Thoughts and Reflections for Throughout the Year, Forward Press, 2009 and subsequently in On the Battlefields of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]