No Match for Love

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

Regular readers will know that I wholeheartedly support assisted suicide when it is clearly what a person wants and there is no hidden agenda on the part of any third party. Oh, and why not; we put down animals in distress so why persist in treating human beings less humanely? Yes, there are religious arguments concerning the sanctity of human life, and I respect these, but why should anyone who subscribes to no religion be likewise bound by them? In some countries, Assisted Dying is legal, but why should anyone have to leave country and friends, let alone have to pay for the 'privilege' of dying on their own terms? So far, I can live with the fact that my quality of life has been much undermined by my prostate cancer; once the cancer becomes aggressive or my quality of life all but beyond endurance...I would prefer a say in dying that does not necessitate the the pain of  leaving not only loved ones, but my country too. Oh, and why not...?

People may argue the sanctity of human life, but what of the quality of human life? We have no say in our being born, we all deserve a say in when and how we die as and when the occasion arises. Whose life is it, anyway? 

Yes, we may (or may not) be much missed by some, but every life touches  others more than it can ever know, and whomsoever it has touched for the good, there thrives the art and poetry of Memory to nurture our posthumous consciousness, playing an active part in lending lives and human spirits  the timelessness we call eternity.

NO MATCH FOR LOVE

I try the patience

of all those who can relate to me

but cannot call me

friend since we do not empathise

with one another;

yet neither am I an enemy,

the likes of which

would see the kinder mind-body-spirit

go into free fall

To the human spirit,

I throw the challenge of a lifetime,

daring it to use me

as it will – go with my flow, turn

the tables on

any open contempt I so love

to put down

by recording its final shouts and screams

that all may listen in

No defeatist, I pursue

friend and enemy alike, inflict on them

ways of seeing

and feeling beyond all imagination,

regardless of race,

religion or gender identity,

no attempt to please,

but bring humanity to its knees, homing in

on its finer flaws

I am Pain, would triumph over all humankind

but for its capacity for love upstaging me

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020