The definitive L-Word
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Today’s poem first appeared on
the blog in 201l; I am repeating the entire post as it appeared then and
since.
In
my collection, I dedicated today's poem to a lovely American couple I met on a
train in 1999 while travelling from San Francisco to New York; their children
had treated them to their first trip outside California for a golden
wedding anniversary present.
It
was a wonderful journey, a lively adventure that took a little over three
days. It was the conference season and no sleepers were available so we slept
in our seats. I got to know some lovely people on that train and during my
4-week stay in the States, I kept in touch with that particular couple, I am so
glad to have met them; their devotion to each other shone through as did their
sheer goodness and sense of fun, all of which made a lasting and deeply
spiritual impression on me. [Needless to say, they had no problem with my being
gay.]
[Update
2/2016: Sadly, one of these friends has since died and his widow has
Alzheimer's disease; a lovely couple, a sure sign that love is, indeed, the
better part of eternity.]
Love,
of course, comes in all shapes and sizes; family, friends, animals, even places
...all may find hold a special place in our hearts, invariably bringing out the
best of human nature while doing its utmost to compensate for the worst. How
far (or not) it succeeds ... well, that is down to each and
every one of us. Whatever, love is eternal, affecting us in ways that will, in
due course, be assimilated into a posthumous consciousness affecting the lives
of others long after we have made our peace with mortality ... whether we
subscribe to any religion or not.
This
poem is a villanelle.
THE
DEFINITIVE L-WORD
Love,
sweet mystery
rising
above all things,
ecstasy
or misery
Poor
though we be
or
walk among kings ...
Love,
sweet mystery
Who
can say or see
of
what a bluebird sings?
(Ecstasy
or misery)
Around
our history
forever
running rings ...
Love,
sweet mystery
A
millennium story
that
to each of us brings
ecstasy
or misery
Bringing
to eternity
the
lesser of our failings,
love
is a mystery,
ecstasy
or misery
Copyright
R. N. Taber 2007; 2016
[Note:
An earlier version of this poem appears under the title 'The L-Word' in A
Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books,
2003.]
Labels: grief, history, human nature, human spirit, inspiration, love, mind-body-spirit, nature, personal space, poetry, positive thinking, posthumous consciousness, relationships, remembrance, society, spirituality
posted by R. N. Taber | 08:36
|
0 Comments
