Nature's Way

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

I started school in 1950 and never did well academically. Yet, as if not more importantly, I learned a lot from a hard hit generation of post-war teachers. Upon his retirement, I asked one (as children do) if being old was scary ‘what with death and all that’. He shrugged and gave it little thought before replying, ‘You reap what you sow in life, Taber. Sow well, and enjoy doing it, whatever and wherever it may be. Enjoy might not always be the first word that comes to mind, but satisfaction is much the same thing. Whatever, the chances are you’ll find Death isn’t such a grim reaper after all.’

That was more than half a century ago. Out of the blue, I found myself  thinking about him and those words of wisdom; both inspired this poem, written to help lift myself out of an inexcusably negative awareness of growing old and the cancer nagging at my prostate.

NATURE'S WAY

Sometimes, hearts lie heavy

on spirits young and fancy free,

in a world, oh, but less kind

than in its past it ever looked to be

in selective archives

No mornings up with the lark,

flying high among patches of blue,

negotiating storm clouds

like a seasoned performer in the art

of positive thinking

Some may suppose little left

but sweet dreams to soften the blow

of time passing ever faster...

heart, mind and body left to babysit

a restless spirit

Ah, but nature has other ideas,

nurturing life forces to the very end

of any span only visible

to the applauding eye, ever mindful

of its seasons

On Earth Mother’s watch, keeper

of all living things, human and other,

no heartless discrimination

along narrow lines of good, bad, ugly, 

or judgement passed

If a sad mind likely to lead us on

into a world of tears at losing its shine,

it’s a sadder spirit still

sees us taken in by the sweet-smelling

poetry of self-pity

Where a body less able to follow

first instincts to leave clear footprints

worth following in, 

let it take its cue from sun-moon-stars

cruising centuries

So I grow old, so what? C’est la vie;

the mind-spirit-body self can but dream

of rewriting its history…

while its spirit makes of us what we will,

no end-game

Though death would shut us out

of the world (however we perceive it)

find rest and peace

in any heart continuing to reach out to us  

for joie de vivre

Copyright R. N. Taber (2017)