A Poet's Blog: Roger N.Taber shares his thoughts & poems...

Thoughts and observations by English poet Roger N. Taber, a retired librarian and poet-novelist.- "Ethnicity, Religion, Gender, Sexuality ... these are but parts of a whole. It is the whole that counts." RNT [NB While I have no wish to create a social network, I will always reply to critical emails about my poetry. Contact: rogertab@aol.com].

Name:
Location: London, United Kingdom

Sadly, a bad fall in 2012 has left me with a mobility problem, and being diagnosed with prostate cancer the same year hasn't helped, but I get out and about with my trusty walking stick as much as I can, take each day as it comes and try to keep looking on the bright(er) side of life. Many of my poems reflect the need to nurture a positive-thinking mindset whatever life throws at us.

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

N-A-T-U-R-E, Pacemakers OR Up for a Challenge


Now, most if not all of us know only too well how great a challenge the ups and downs of life can be,  especially now as the COVID-19 coronavirus may have passed its peak but persists in affecting daily lives around the world., not least those who have lost loved ones to it.

Nature, not unlike human nature is likely to draw us  into various relationship triangles here at various stages in our lives, not infrequently running circles around us and leaving us uncertain as to which way to turn next;  we can but do our best to shape up on our own account, and may the best man, woman, girl or boy win. As for what we mean by 'best' or 'win'... well, how subjective is that? It depends on your point of view, I guess, and a poem can only ever hope to touch upon skeleton templates. 

My English teacher, 'Jock' Rankin - more years ago that I care to remember - once described the relationship between the reader and any piece of writing as putting flesh on the bones; not an uncommon analogy, but one that went over the head of a slow-learner 12 year-old as I was then. In time, though, I came to see how appropriate it is given that no piece of writing strikes any two readers in quite the same way, thereby taking on a life of its own for the reader/s and in the abstract; the latter, in the course of any subsequent discussion, being left to us to make of what we will. A good teacher will suggest interpretations without imposing any; we may well instinctively opt (at the time) for what we discern as the teacher's preferred point of view, but the best teachers provide food for thought that can last a lifetime. Needless to say, Jock was one of the best. 

In many ways, my secondary schooling was all but irrelevant to my educational needs in the sense that its curriculum embraced more technical and science subjects than I have ever had a talent for. Even so, I learned more from its teachers than anything on the curriculum, and for that I will always be grateful.


'The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.' 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Swallows, Songbirds, Barn Swallow
(Image taken from the Internet)

N-A-T-U-R-E, PACEMAKERS or UP FOR A CHALLENGE
Dawn,
demanding we play our part,
do our best
to rise above the worst
society can throw
at us, contrive (or negotiate)
a winning streak
least likely to drag us back
to Square One

Noon,
challenging us to do (far) better
than our peers
if only to earn promotion
of the sort likely
to bring in enough to pay off
the credit cards,
stop the bailiffs returning us
to Square One

Sunset,
too soon for congratulations
on playing our part,
keeping society off our backs
(for now, at least)
long enough (we live in hope)
to take a step back,
get the measure of ourselves
in Square One

Night,
running a gamut of high hopes,
broken promises,
missed opportunities, pipped
to the post every time
by Fate’s favoured, among whom
we are as...chaff
in an ill wind blowing us back
to Square One?

Sunlight,
waking up to chinks in shutters
greeting us
with wicked winks and cheers
from town and field,
applauding our taking off (again)
on wings of a skylark,
setting as tough a pace as any
for being alive
  

Copyright R. N. Taber 2017

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