You don’t
have to be in the media spotlight to influence people, even society, for the
better; big or small, every contribution counts and we can all make one.
Setting a
good example can make a big difference; it may start off as a small ripple on a
BIG pond, but it will spread. Much the same can be said for setting a bad example, of course, and we would all
do well to remember that. At the same time, in various socio-cultural-religious
respects, different people have different takes on what constitutes good and
bad. I guess all we can do is engage with and trust our better, kinder,
instincts. (At least the meaning of kindness is universally understood if not always much in evidence.)
Ah, but if
we can see a ripple spread, we rarely
get to see what difference our words and everyday behavior make. Take good
manners for example; they seem to have gone out of the window here in recent
years, but just saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to someone may well encourage
them to do the same and so on, making more of us feel just that little bit
better, even hopeful that this sorry world of ours might also take a turn for
the better any time soon. Our differences, too, can make a difference to the much divided world in which we live and its splintered societies..by pulling together and creating a better world to pass on to those who deserve better.
This
(revised) poem is a kenning. Like many of my later poems, this one is the more
mature version of an earlier piece. So why publish the earlier piece? Well, it
seemed a good idea at the time, and like many good ideas feedback has since
shaped it into something much the same yet significantly different.
THE UPBEAT HEART
How will
it all end,
if they
have their way, clerics
and politicians
pulling me
in all
directions?
Will some
fallen angel
pick on
me and drag me away
or will a
gentler spirit
have
mercy, find a place for me
come Judgment
Day?
Shall
wolfish death
delight in
tearing us apart
or strike
swiftly
and
cleanly at the human heart,
lost doves
find their way,
defy infernal
dark, fly eternal light
or (conveniently)
consigned
to
mythology, out of human mind
and
history’s sight
Not ours
to know the how,
where, or
when, but be glad to give,
learn, unite
in Love and Peace
than
passively wait Death’s turn
with us while
our ‘betters’
play
politics with common sense,
and the
better, kinder, part
of human
nature gets on with making
all the
difference
I am that
up-beat of the human heart
that gives
humanity a head start
Copyright R. N. Taber 2004; 2013
[Note: This
poem has been substantially revised from an earlier version published in my collection The Third Eye by R. N.
Taber, Assembly Books, 2004 and subsequently in Ygdrasil:, a Journal of the Poetic Arts, May 2006.]
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