(Another) Window on Christmas

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

A reader wonders why the Government here are prepared to put people at risk by relaxing Covid-19 safety regulations for Christmas, but not other religious celebrations that have come and gone since the pandemic began. We are, he reminds us, a multicultural society, after all.  A good point, I think, although I do not subscribe to any religion myself other than a feeling for Pantheism.. 

Whatever, we are a common humanity, after all.

Another reader asks for " … at least one more Christmas poem to see us through what may well be a very difficult time for many of us this year.” 

Hopefully, today’s poem may go some way towards satisfying both readers.

Take care, everyone,

Hugs, 

Roger

(ANOTHER) WINDOW ON CHRISTMAS

It’s redbreast’s song bursts on my ears
as at my window I watch snowflakes fall,
missing you so, wishing we could share
such gifts of love as meant for one and all 

In the distance, I can hear bells bringing
tidings meant to fill sad hearts with cheer,
spread thoughts of peace and goodwill
where much of the world left living in fear 

Caught in a window’s wintry reflection,
I watch tearstained faces reach for the sky,
weepy eyes smiling for a moment divine,
as Apollo drops by and blesses us, you and I 

This mind-body-spirit uniting with yours,
though Covid-19 bent on keeping us apart;
love, it makes us one, and all the stronger,
for distance means little to the human heart 

It’s Love’s song, bursting Christmas at its seams
with humanity's dearest desires and dreams…

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020

[Note: This poem also appears on my general poetry blog today.] RT

Private Lives OR A Lesser Known History of Everyman

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

Another revised poem today that I found while rummaging my print files; it has not appeared on the poetry blogs before.

I am still very poorly, but remain Covid-free, am feeling a little better every day, and hope to continue writing new poems and publishing them here before too long.

The poem is a kenning and appears on both general and gay-interest poetry blogs today. 

Sadly, many LGBT folks worldwide still remain fearful of the consequences of their choosing to look the world in the eye wherever bigotry persists in making itself felt. As I've said before - and daresay will again - there is so much more to anyone than their sexuality. I suspect the bigots among us, too, (like many if not most of us) know all about engaging in a tug-of-war between keeping up appearances and bringing certain home truths into the public domain.

PRIVATE LIVES or  A LESSER KNOWN HISTORY OF EVERYMAN

We lurk in personal space
conspire to confuse feelings 
likely to light it up,
expose me for watching them
from shadowy corne
while they dance all cares away,
pretending not to know
I am nearby or why, refusing to cry
over spilt (sour) milk 

We manage the living dead,
calling tunes and pulling strings
who would deny me,
mistake me for such bad dreams
as plague humankind
for infiltrating a mind-body-spirit
that is but weak
where it likes to fool itself otherwise,
and everyone else 

We're no strangers to mortality,
walking daily in such shadowlands
as haunt humanity
throughout its daily sleepwalking,
calling on life forces
least likely to penetrate is defences
see it break cover,
confront and/ or excuse its true identity
for acknowledging me 

We are such secrets as never on the loose
for fear of Truth getting the better of us

Copyright R. N. Taber 2020

[Note: Do explore the archives while I am not publishing much on either blog as they contain many of my best gay poems - e.g. Apollo in Winter - ; access the archives on the righthand side of any blog page.]

 

 

 

 

 

Alone at Christmas OR Flowers of Peace Revisited

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

Poet on the mend here, slowly but surely, while Muse insisting I keep looking on the bright(er) side of Christmas 2020. Muse, though, is not averse to a little cheating, hence an old poem revised only today.

Now, Christmas - like all religious festivals – is a time for coming together. Sadly,  it can also be a time when divisions become more clearly marked than ever.

Where family and friends do come together, those who are and/or made to feel excluded can feel terribly alone and isolated. Birthdays, anniversaries, special moments we long to share with family and friends, these are times when not being able to share them, for whatever reason, can make us feel physically sick with the intensity of exclusion.

Anyone made to feel excluded because they don’t meet the expectations of others, but made their own way in life, deserves better than pity. Indeed, it is high time some people realised that, much as we may want the best for family and friends, we have no right to tell them how to live their lives; we should respect the decisions they make instead of harping on about how they could and should have done things differently. Nor is turning to socio-cultural-religious traditions any excuse for making people feel guilty about how they choose to live their lives...or rejecting them for it. [Multicultural societies will never work well until more of its leading lights get real and bring their followers into the 21st century.]

Let those of us who fare better, wish all those who are alone and unhappy a peaceful time over a particularly tough Christmas this year, and always.

 Peace of mind may well play hard to get, but it is there if we look hard enough; it involves keeping faith with ourselves as well as, if not more than, with each other. Gay, or straight, male or female, we all need to believe in ourselves and can but trust others will come to believe in us too, albeit it may take time for some to accept us for who and what we are.

At the end of the day, there are always loved ones to keep us company, whether or not they can be with us in person.

For those who are  lonely or unhappy, for whatever reason, there is always much comfort to be found among our kinder ghosts and the felt presence of loved ones and friends whenever unavailable in person.

ALONE AT CHRISTMAS or FLOWERS OF PEACE REVISITED

Never (quite) alone at Christmas
for memories kept close to the heart
among flowers of peace full grown

For errors made, we can but atone
(join a common humanity for a start)
never (quite) alone at  Christmas

Let the world see past a tombstone
in whose memory beats many a heart
among flowers of peace full grown

Recalling wise words writ n stone
(keeps us close, though made to part)
never (quite) alone at Christmas

But revisit past kindnesses shown 
and rejoice with all mind-body-spirit
among flowers of peace full grown

Summon doves of time long flown,
taking comfort and joy in their return;
never (quite) alone at Christmas,.
among flowers of a peace full grown

Copyright R. N. Taber 2009; 2020

[Note: this post-poem also appears on my general poetry blog today.]RNT

Christmas 2020 OR Love Rules ok

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

Hi folks, 

Yes, I’m back, still feeling poorly, but managed to write a poem. . 

Not one for sending Christmas cards, I have nevertheless written many a poem in lieu, by way of letting friends know I am thinking of them, blog readers too. 

Coming up with a poem this year has not been easy, its having been the worst many, if not most of us have ever had to endure. Hopefully, it captures something of that love and peace which Christmas celebrates, whether or not in the name of Jesus Christ, albeit I suspect he would approve. For me, Jesus is an outstanding historical figure for whom I have the greatest respect, but have never been able to come to grips with the idea of a personified God. I share the view of the pantheists of old, that God is nature rather than its creator. 

While I respect all world religions, we must simply agree to differ. We are a diverse, common humanity whose differences don't make us different, just human. 

Now that various vaccines are already or potentially on their way, I feel better able to wish you all a Happy Christmas, Covid-19 and Brexit notwithstanding. 

Hugs, 

Roger 

CHRISTMAS 2020 or LOVE RULES OK 

Christmas 2020,
will be as never before,
no carol singers
at anyone’s front door
earning extra pocket money,
hoping for more 

Christmas 2020,
a more subdued occasion,
less decoration
to mark its celebration
with fewer family or friends
able to join in 

Christmas 2020,
will see a relaxing of rules
across the UK
regarding a coronavirus
with no respect for human life
(or Christmas) 

Christmas 2020,
seeing last-ditch Brexit talks
on tenterhooks
lest they should fail,
EU and UK last seen dangling
from the same nail

 Christmas 2020,
empty chairs at its grand feast,
in remembrance
of favourite ghosts
to whom we’ll raise our glasses
and give toasts 

Christmas 2020,
whatever our religion (or none)
we can but agree
it’s l-o-v-e rules OK
in offering gifts of comfort and joy,
come what may

 Copyright R. N. Taber 2020

[Note: For those of you who visit both poetry blogs, this post-poem will also appear on mygeneral gay  blog today.]

Accessing the poetry archives

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

Dear Readers,

Sorry, no poem today as I am very unwell, although no Covid-19 symptoms so hope to feel better sooner rather than later. I will be 75 soon and, as regular readers may recall, have been living with hormone therapy (for prostate cancer) since 2011. Later the same year, a bad fall resulted in a fractured ankle resulting in a clot for which I had to self-inject for three months, during which time I was housebound. 

Last year, a venous ulcer on the same (left) foot took some managing, but I am walking again fairly well with the aid of a walking stick and compression stockings.

Through all these crises, I managed to keep looking on the bright side of life, thankful that I can walk again as doctors warned me I might not while being treated for my fall in 2011.

So … I am taking a short break from writing up the blog. Meanwhile you may  enjoy exploring the archives where you will, hopefully, find some poems to your liking; the archives can be accessed on the  right hand side of any blog post; just click on whatever date you want to explore.

Take care and keep well,

Roger

 

Looking on the Bright(er) Side

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

We are all waking to another day of Covid-19, although hopeful that any approved vaccine will reach us and loved ones in time,before mortality strikes any devastating blow. Should it come too late, as for some of us it inevitably will, let our tears be joy as well as grief, celebrating a life and our having been a part of it.

LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT(ER) SIDE

Seagulls crying,
tide coming in fast, anxious
to offer consolation 

Breaks in clouds,
a sunbeam breaking through,
hinting at a kinder day 

A little light rain
as if to refresh a troubled Earth,
feed its hopes for spring 

Skylarks, flocking
to new habitats, but continuing
sing us into wintry dawns 

Humanity, waking
to yet another day of living fearful
of Covid-19 coronavirus 

Tears, for loved one
spirited away on wings of mortality
to nests of remembrance 

Nature, an example
to us all in persevering, keep looking
on the bright(er) side

 Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020

 [Note: this post-poem also appears on my general poetry blog today.]  RNT

Smiling Through

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

Years ago, while walking along the banks of a river, I met a young man with whom I struck up a friendship that would blossom into love. We lay chatting in the bosom of a weeping willow tree and it was all but love at first sight.  Gay people were much despised in those days – as by some, we still are – so we kept our love a secret. He was killed in a road accident barely eighteen months later, and I bitterly regret that particular secret. As it was, neither of us were openly gay, and I even made excuses not to attend his funeral in case the extent of my grief betrayed us; something else I will always regret

.Years later, wandering along that same river bank. I saw two young men emerge, laughing, and holding hands, from the leafy bosom of that same weeping willow. They paused to share a long kiss, then continued on their way towards me, smiling both warmly and defiantly at me as they passed. Needless to say, I smiled back. Any defiance faded instantly, and all I saw was warmth.  How I envied them, less for being young (I was already in my 60’s) than for a sexuality they plainly felt free to express. 

As regular readers will know, I was 30 before I began coming out to the world as a gay man.  Happily, for many gay people it is much easier now. Sadly, for as many others worldwide, it is as hard as it ever was. Bigotry has to be one of the world’s greater human tragedies, worse because it invariably exists behind smiling eyes that are as closed doors to those who support Human Rights in case they are called out for their hypocrisy. 

So, what is a gay-interest post-poem doing on both blogs? As I have pointed out many times, a poem is a poem is a poem, open to readers whatever its theme; no less so, a person is a person is a person whoever, wherever, and whatever their sexual persuasion. There is more to a poem than meets the eye, just as there is more to any of us than our sexuality.

SMILING THROUGH

Willow tree, willow tree,
well may you weep for me
that saw the start
of a love that gave my heart
cause to beat faster
for having found just cause.
no more pretending
all was well in my world, nothing
and no one missing 

Willow tree, willow tree,
you took us in a leafy embrace
when others looked
the other way, wishing us both
in another place
for being gay, and determined
that together we’d stay,
letting our true feelings express
our love and happiness 

Willow tree, willow tree,
well may you weep for our being
scorned and rejected,
even though accepted by others
for being a vital part
of who we are to the human race,
given that love
wears as many faces as humanity
poses questions of equality 

Willow tree, willow tree, within each tear,
a smile for every day we stay together

Copyright R. N. Taber 2020

[Note: this poem-post also appears on my general poetry blog today.] RT