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.

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Regeneration

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

Much as I love spending time with friends, I also enjoy being on my own which is just as well as I often am, even over Christmas and other 'family' occasions. I don’t mind. I have no partner and relations with my family are strained to say the least. For lovers the world over, though, kept apart by various socio-cultural-religious traditions that need to be brought into the 21st century… for them, I do mind for I was young once, and it happened to me. I resented it then and I resent it now on behalf of star-crossed lovers everywhere.

After once posting this poem on my gay-interest blog some time ago, a number of heterosexual couples who dip into both blogs got in touch to say they how they could relate to it because they found themselves on opposite sides of this or that socio-cultural-religious divide. One couple said how they had never given much thought to the animosity often shown towards gay couples , until ‘we found ourselves victims of our respective cultures and prejudices that should have been put aside centuries ago…’

Christmas and other religious festivals are a time for families and friends to come together in a spirit of peace and love, yet many lovers are kept apart from each other simply because those same families and friends have tunnel vision and cannot see beyond certain socio-cultural-religious confines within which they have been taught and raised.

As for the poem…if you have ever  made love with someone and felt (almost seen) demons on their back trying to drag them away from you (or vice versa) you will understand how it came to be written.

It may well be that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it is a lonely heart that beats in a half empty bed …

REGENERATION

My lips crushed against yours
as rose petals between angry fingers,
body seeking to assuage a rage
in you doing battle with darker waves
even than in a storm,
I will the language of love to come
into its own, show you
how, together, we can defeat demons
trampling on your dreams,
intruding on mine, expose them
for who and what they are
beat them, hands down, at history’s
own vengeful game

For it is revenge that stirs them
to forage in your mind for feelings
of a darker kind than love
would choose to have on its side were it
freed from its cage;
a cage, indeed, woven by demons
to keep you from me;
though I rattle its bars with my desires,
let you feed and drink from them,
feel your pulse and confirm you live,
I cannot reach within,
only trust that, in a mutual adrenalin rush,
you’ll make a dash for freedom

I can feel your heart beating faster,
pulse growing stronger each time we kiss
and all but drown in love’s blood,
sweat and tears, making its confession
as only body language can
though words struggling to compensate
where the spirit stronger than ever
but flesh weakened by years of captivity
imposed by demon shadows,
ready to pounce at the first opportunity
once their existence threatened,
prisoners taken at past close encounters
actively considering alternatives

I can taste your guilt on my tongue,
slowly sliding down my throat like bile
as your sex begs me
to burst open your cage, free you
once and for all
from whatever spell written on whatever
page or pages of your history
making you stall even as you bid for a life
that’s full, no holds barred
to making the most of love’s true passion
if you’ll but dare fire its enemies
into a faceless oblivion

Explosion! The landscape of love laid bare
for regeneration

Copyright R. N. Taber 2008

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