T-i-m-e, a Personal History OR H-u-m-a-n-i-t-y, Brokers for Peace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
[Update, May 12th 2020]: - I suspect fewer readers around the world may continue to visit my poetry blogs now Google has removed its personal G+ sites. I do not use social media any more because I got fed-up with all the stupid and abusive comments; the fact that I write gay-interest as well as general poetry meant I was targeted by a homophobic element out there.Feedback, though, suggests many readers have felt uplifted by the positive thinking I try to convey, and that is why I write at all ... because there is too much negative thinking around in societies worldwide, and that can't be good for any of us, especially at the moment as we struggle with the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Meanwhile ...
It is no exaggeration to say that yours truly is to DIY as a hammer is to a broken thumb. As often as not, especially as I was growing up, I would be taken to task for being a dreamer, unlikely to make the proverbial grade unless I pulled up the proverbial socks without more ado. By some obscure twist of fate, the local Education Authority, felt I was best suited to a school that gave priority to technical and practical over academic subjects. Needless to say, my schooldays were a nightmare. Teachers of the former despaired of me although years later, fate would intervene yet again, taking my side this time, and seeing me through to achieving a B.A. Honours degree in English & American Literature. For a seasoned no-hoper, this was no mean achievement, confirming what I'd always suspected, that an independent mind-body-spirit has more to do with shaping our lives than any formal education or parental influences, although I would not dispute the value of either; we owe our parents and teachers more than they probably realised at the time if not quite as they may have anticipated.
There is no such thing as failure in the sense it is (too) often made to relate to a person’s life history or achievements. Somewhere along the line, even a seasoned no-hoper makes his or her mark on history if only by setting an example we feel inspired to follow or determined to avoid. It may not always feel like it, given peer-parental-work pressures on all sides, but each of us in his or her own way makes a unique contribution to history, even where denied all the trappings of fame and fortune. A word, a gesture in the right place at the right time from us to someone else or from them to us can change not only a life but a history.
Human history is more than a passage of time, it is a people-centred chain of events in which each and every one of us are links. (Yes, obvious when you think about it, but how many of us feel encouraged to think about it and give self-esteem a boost when it needs it most?)
T-I-M-E, A PERSONAL HISTORY or H-U-M-A-N-I-T-Y, BROKERS FOR PEACE
Hours passing, days flying;
learning to walk, talk,
make friends (and enemies)
as starting to get to grips
with what it takes for the heart
to touch base with mind-body-spirit
on life’s learning curve
Days passing, weeks flying,
learning the art
of staying positive, no matter
not doing too well
at school, and being put down
for it by parents and bullied by peers
that don’t know any better
Weeks passing, months flying;
self-awareness learning
how sexuality and closet lives,
can exist and survive
any judgemental environment
despite its prejudices spoon feeding
stereotypes the world over
Months passing, years flying;
the sheer Poetry of Life
offering any mind-body-spirit
open to the (dying) art
of agreeing-to-differ a chance
to redefine certain text book histories
recorded on tablets of stone
Time passing, centuries flying;
natural world last seen
playing second fiddle to seasons
of man-woman-child
relearning how to walk and talk,
the better to run the gamut life-love-war,
and become brokers of peace
Centuries passing, history flying
(by-words for progress);
all humanity needing to call upon
its finer sensibilities,
unafraid to face up to its mistakes,
and listen to a posthumous consciousness
continuing to shape its history
Copyright R N Taber 2019
[Update, May 12th 2020]: - I suspect fewer readers around the world may continue to visit my poetry blogs now Google has removed its personal G+ sites. I do not use social media any more because I got fed-up with all the stupid and abusive comments; the fact that I write gay-interest as well as general poetry meant I was targeted by a homophobic element out there.Feedback, though, suggests many readers have felt uplifted by the positive thinking I try to convey, and that is why I write at all ... because there is too much negative thinking around in societies worldwide, and that can't be good for any of us, especially at the moment as we struggle with the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Meanwhile ...
It is no exaggeration to say that yours truly is to DIY as a hammer is to a broken thumb. As often as not, especially as I was growing up, I would be taken to task for being a dreamer, unlikely to make the proverbial grade unless I pulled up the proverbial socks without more ado. By some obscure twist of fate, the local Education Authority, felt I was best suited to a school that gave priority to technical and practical over academic subjects. Needless to say, my schooldays were a nightmare. Teachers of the former despaired of me although years later, fate would intervene yet again, taking my side this time, and seeing me through to achieving a B.A. Honours degree in English & American Literature. For a seasoned no-hoper, this was no mean achievement, confirming what I'd always suspected, that an independent mind-body-spirit has more to do with shaping our lives than any formal education or parental influences, although I would not dispute the value of either; we owe our parents and teachers more than they probably realised at the time if not quite as they may have anticipated.
There is no such thing as failure in the sense it is (too) often made to relate to a person’s life history or achievements. Somewhere along the line, even a seasoned no-hoper makes his or her mark on history if only by setting an example we feel inspired to follow or determined to avoid. It may not always feel like it, given peer-parental-work pressures on all sides, but each of us in his or her own way makes a unique contribution to history, even where denied all the trappings of fame and fortune. A word, a gesture in the right place at the right time from us to someone else or from them to us can change not only a life but a history.
Human history is more than a passage of time, it is a people-centred chain of events in which each and every one of us are links. (Yes, obvious when you think about it, but how many of us feel encouraged to think about it and give self-esteem a boost when it needs it most?)
T-I-M-E, A PERSONAL HISTORY or H-U-M-A-N-I-T-Y, BROKERS FOR PEACE
Hours passing, days flying;
learning to walk, talk,
make friends (and enemies)
as starting to get to grips
with what it takes for the heart
to touch base with mind-body-spirit
on life’s learning curve
Days passing, weeks flying,
learning the art
of staying positive, no matter
not doing too well
at school, and being put down
for it by parents and bullied by peers
that don’t know any better
Weeks passing, months flying;
self-awareness learning
how sexuality and closet lives,
can exist and survive
any judgemental environment
despite its prejudices spoon feeding
stereotypes the world over
Months passing, years flying;
the sheer Poetry of Life
offering any mind-body-spirit
open to the (dying) art
of agreeing-to-differ a chance
to redefine certain text book histories
recorded on tablets of stone
Time passing, centuries flying;
natural world last seen
playing second fiddle to seasons
of man-woman-child
relearning how to walk and talk,
the better to run the gamut life-love-war,
and become brokers of peace
Centuries passing, history flying
(by-words for progress);
all humanity needing to call upon
its finer sensibilities,
unafraid to face up to its mistakes,
and listen to a posthumous consciousness
continuing to shape its history
Copyright R N Taber 2019
Labels: diversity, ghosts, history, human nature, human spirit, life forces, love, mind-body-spirit, personal space, poetry, positive thinking, posthumous consciousness, relationships, society, time
posted by R. N. Taber | 08:08
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