Shadows In A Mist

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

Some of my poems appear on both blogs, but rarely at the same time. Why, though, some readers ask, do I post poems that have no particular relevance for gay people on my gay-interest blog just as I post poems on a gay theme on my general blog? Well, regular readers will know that, in my book, a poem is a poem and anyone with a feeling for poetry will not be prejudiced against one whatever subject it may take for a theme. Besides, as well as intended to give pleasure, it is not unheard of for poet and poem to offer food for thought...

I am not so much a gay poet as a poet who also happens to be gay. Like many poets, I have a passion for life, love, peace and nature that frequently makes itself felt in my poems, but I am also concerned with societies world-wide and where they are found wanting. Gay people are a part of those societies. Who am I to ignore gay issues and what it means to a gay person to be gay in what is often a gay-unfriendly environment even these days? As a gay man, I feel I have something to offer poetry in this context while it is up to the reader to judge whether poem or poet rise to the occasion.

My poem, Shadows in a Mist, is as much about having faith in ourselves as anything else. That applies to all of us, regardless of sex, ethnicity, creed or sexuality…surely? Anyone who nurses grudges or prejudices against anyone who doesn't share their own little customised 'box' in society needs to look to their conscience (if they have one) or better still. broaden their horizons and look beyond another person's ethnicity, sexuality or religion...

SHADOWS IN A MIST

Silver shadows all around me

keep pace with my dreams,

are there only to remind me

(if life as bad as it seems)

shades of love will surround me,

won’t fall apart at the seams

or let this dull ache in my body

swell, explode me into pieces,

food for the world’s prejudices

Silver shadows all around me

will always dry my tears,

are there only to remind me

(its heart beating my fears)

shades of love will surround me,

and save me from despair,

show me an inner spirituality,

championing a happiness,

greater than any temporal ties

Silver shadows all around me

speaking with one voice,

are there only to remind me

(fighting my enemy, choice)

shades of love will surround me,

see me right by compassion,

replacing rock and hard place

with the wisdom of centuries

defying the world’s prejudices

Silver shadows, but inspiring us

to keep faith with ourselves

From: On the Battlefields of Love by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]