L-I-F-E, Windows on the World OR Homing in on Sense and Sensibility

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

Today's poem first appeared on the blog in 2017.

A single friend once commented that his everlasting regret in life is never to have been in love, loved in return, and having children. This, from someone whose family adore him and who will be remembered by many for a kind heart and generosity of spirit.

Few if any of us can say, hand on heart, that we have no regrets. Life, though, deals each and every one of us a different hand, not least because we are all different. Such is the nature of things. 

Whatever mistakes or poor/ wrong choices we may have made in life, love comes in all shapes and sizes, and we should regret none of it, even where it may not have (quite) come up to our hopes and expectations. Love is a life force from which we should all take heart. We may be single, or fortunate enough to have found a partner (within or outside marriage)…whatever, I defy anyone to say they have never loved at all…whether it be of the human or natural world…past or present, nevertheless continuing to make itself felt always, and hopefully making us better, kinder people for its place in our lives.

As for whatever we may leave behind us  when time demands we take our leave of this life, we could all do a lot worse than have secured a good place in someone else’s memory, the effects of which may well be passed on for generations.Regular readers will know that I often refer to a posthumous consciousness, that part of us that remains 'live' in someone else's mind-body-spirit, the better, kinder part of us continuing to make itself felt; a sense of eternity if, only as ghosts.

As a someone once said to me many years ago, "To achieve at least one good thing in life for someone else, is raison d'être enough to compensate for if not (quite) wipe out any of those bad choices with which we are inclined to engage from time to time." He was a vicar, and well aware that I did not subscribe to any religion. (My Pantheism came years later.)

L-I-F-E, WINDOWS ON THE WORLD or HOMING IN ON SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

Watching a sunrise,

all live senses re-awakening

to the spirit of nature,

metaphor for balmy breezes

encouraging evergreens

to sing a song for all seasons,

birds winging Nature’s

semaphore of hope, no matter

blue skies turning grey

Watching high noon

play out its daily theatricals,

all we passionate

children of the Earth eagerly

aspiring to make

the most of opportunities lost,

missed (or never were)

before Time has its wicked way

with us, and it’s too late

Watching a sunset,

curtain all but drawn on affairs

of mind, body, spirit…

working in a harmony (of sorts)

to contrive meaning,

purpose, (closure?) whatever

it takes for laurels

upon which we may rest easier

if not (quite) in peace

Watching a darkness

gather our world to its bosom

where we may well

writhe like newborns lacking

in communication skills

to express our needs, desires,

all found wanting…

yet a sixth sense of its potential

but waiting in wings

Watching at windows

on the world from the top floor

of a tower block,

pulling blinds to try and forget

those cares of the day

(ever ready to keep us company)

by taking from love

(in real time, memory or fiction)

a renewed life force

Copyright R. N. Taber 2017, 2020