http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Today's poem first appeared on the blog in 2016.
Once, I read something along the
lines that the ‘dreams’ we most vividly recall are but leftover, half-formed
thoughts inclined to either embrace us or knock us for six as we necessarily
negotiate an emotional landscape that finds us close to waking up but unable
(quite) to let go of whatever it is about sleep that insists we stay; cave in
to the latter, and we risk making of our lives an open prison.
We are used to being told that
certain political and legal moves are in all our best interests, but there is
often a hidden agenda that benefits some people most if not
all the time and the rest of us ... well, some of the time at
least, we hope. We only have to look at what is happening in super-power
countries like China and Russia, but political strategies worldwide have much
to answer for as far as the principles of personal freedom are concerned. Oh,
and yes, I include the UK. Whatever, though, the human heart is still a free
country, and mind-body-spirit is not without certain strategies of its own to keep
it that way.
Now, more than once, contemplating
the day ahead over my breakfast has felt like being pulled one way or the other
by complacency and positive thinking, each in the form of a viable escape plan
from the other. Usually, but not always, a few slices of toast and several cups
of coffee will summon a strength of mind-body-spirit resolved to let the more
constructive alternative run its course.
Sleepwalking through life (with
eyes wide open if eyelids drooping) is sadly, all too common; going through the
motions of life instead of living it the way we want
not as other people, convention... whatever...suggest we should. At
the same time, we need to bear in mind that not everyone's idea of 'living' is
the same, and it is unfair to compare, even more so to set ourselves up as
judge and jury as so many people I know SO love to do...
Life, of course, doesn’t always
give even the best of motives their head, but our options are often limited through
no fault of our own. Even so, where an opportunity to improve not only our own
lot but others, too, does present itself, we owe it to ourselves
(and them) to GO for it, no matter what some might say or
think. Some readers may argue that's just selfish, but in my experience,
letting someone prevent you from doing something you really want
to do can but end in tears; more often than not, any who appear to begrudge us the opportunity are simply
employing a get-out clause for not pursuing a dream of their own.
Life is rarely easy and sometimes
makes demands of us we might well prefer to put on the proverbial back burner,
but where there's a will, there's usually a way ... and that's where
mind-body-spirit comes into its own. Yes, win some, lose some, but better
surely to find ways of putting a dream to the test if only because it's how
history and personal history come together and make history
...
'What is not started today is never
finished tomorrow.' - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German Playwright,
Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832)
GIVE A DREAM A GO
Sometimes, the human body
will not (quite) emerge from
shadows
(courtesy of sleep) conveniently
induced by selective half-memories
of fonder (kinder) times
when body and spirit took a stoic
stand
against the more aggressive
(egocentric) interpretations of
what it is
to be a practising human being
Sometimes, the human mind
can't (quite) escape a darker,
weaker side
(courtesy of conscience)
invaded by selective half-memories
conveniently (almost) buried
under layers of regret, pain,
wishful
thinking for turning back
the ever-spilling clock measuring
out
human life in grains of sand
Sometime, the human spirit
refuses (quite) to justify being
slow
to do the right thing
by all that’s integral to the
integrity
even of those children
of a lesser god than it chooses to
put
above reproach, especially
when available to call upon to
excuse
the plainly inexcusable
Eventually (with luck) we wake
to choral music promising us heaven
of a kind not (quite)
as interpreted by various Holy
Books
if only to keep us quiet
in the face of pain and regret
stoically
managed but self-inflicted
all the same, especially upon
others
who mean us no harm
Day dawns, and life goes on
so we need to pull ourselves
together,
put the world to rights
and put any irksome misgivings down
to common misdemeanours
attributed to quirks of sleep
expressing
(only human) anxieties
of a far less forgiving ego than
likely
to meet the eye over breakfast
Copyright R. N. Taber 2016
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