A Poet's Blog: Roger N.Taber shares his thoughts & poems...

Thoughts and observations by English poet Roger N. Taber, a retired librarian and poet-novelist.- "Ethnicity, Religion, Gender, Sexuality ... these are but parts of a whole. It is the whole that counts." RNT [NB While I have no wish to create a social network, I will always reply to critical emails about my poetry. Contact: rogertab@aol.com].

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Location: London, United Kingdom

Sadly, a bad fall in 2012 has left me with a mobility problem, and being diagnosed with prostate cancer the same year hasn't helped, but I get out and about with my trusty walking stick as much as I can, take each day as it comes and try to keep looking on the bright(er) side of life. Many of my poems reflect the need to nurture a positive-thinking mindset whatever life throws at us.

Monday 27 February 2012

Ode To A Mermaid

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

As regular readers know, I ‘do whimsical’ sometimes. I began writing this poem on the cliffs at Scarborough in 2007, and then forgot about it, only to rediscover it in an old notebook a year or so later. AS a child, I loved The Little Mermaid, a story by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. I suspect I have never quite grown up as fairy tales and their allegorical significance continue to haunt my personal space... in the nicest possible way.

Did I hear a mermaid singing? Oh, probably not, but...

ODE TO A MERMAID

I once hit a beach at the cliff edge of night,
not a single star left shining,
my soul, a Black Hole, no glimmer of light,
(even the moon was in hiding)

I cried out in terror. (Did no one hear me?)
The whole world lay sleeping;
heavy eyes stinging with spray from the sea,
I heard a mermaid singing

Despairingly, I scoured that awful darkness
till I made out a shadowy figure
dancing on the water like a pagan goddess
grieving our past, present, future…

Listening to the song she sung, of a history
in which I, too, played a part,
it struck a low, half-forgotten chord in me
not yet (quite) played out

Louder, a hymn to the world’s damaged souls
rang in my ears, on my tongue,
calling on its strengths, inspiring new goals,
(of these, too, the mermaid sung)

She left suddenly, as if frightened by the dawn,
its first weepy light already clearing,
in whose sight I’ll walk tall, never (quite) alone
for the song of a mermaid singing

Copyright R. N. Taber 2009



Photo: The Little Mermaid on a rock overlooking Copenhagen harbour as inspired by the famous fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen.


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