Getting the Better of Demons

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

A Reader asks if I still submit poems to poetry journals. Occasionally, I do, but mostly I publish to the blog. Most editors stipulate that a poem should not have been published elsewhere which can tie up a piece for months while a decision is being made. In the past, I some 600 poems of mine have appeared in various poetry sources, excluding my own collections. I am greatly indebted to those editors for giving me the confidence to believe in myself as a poet.

One of my poems - Skeleton in the Cupboard - was recently published by the Society of Genealogists’ magazine (Vol. 33, No 8, Dec. 2020) here in the UK at the editor's request; it is distributed to members worldwide, so hopefully some readers will enjoy it. Blog readers will find it in the archives (right hand side of any blog page) for February 2018. 

Meanwhile ...

Some 60+ years ago, I used to have nightmares most nights and would sometimes fall asleep in class.  A teacher tackled me about it after school one day, and I told him about the nightmares. He did not ask what they were about, only warned me not to let them get the better of me. 

“Do they scare you, these nightmares?” he asked. I nodded.  

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life being scared? I shook my head. “Then chase them away. Open your mind to people, places, and things that mean the most to you, trust your more positive feelings, and let them convince you you’re bigger and better than any stupid nightmare just for having them. Start believing that, and no nightmare can survive. They are our demons. They love to sound out the worst in us, negative feelings we may not even be consciously aware of. Think positive, Taber, and they’ll run a mile. Try it, and see, yes?” 

“Yes, sir, I nodded, thinking what a load of rubbish, and anxious to be on my way home. 

Even aged 15, though, the sceptic in me could never resist a challenge. I gave his advice a whirl, and rarely have nightmares troubled me since. Moreover, I was a psychological mess for years, and positive thinking has worked wonders for my mental well-being. 

Mind you, getting the better of nightmares is one thing, getting the better of human nature, that's something else.

GETTING THE BETTER OF DEMONS 

I help recapture the best
of all yesterdays, and if darker times
should attempt
to muscle in and get the better of us,
I will summon the power
of love from its very first heartbeat
to drive any demons away
daring to believe they can pick a fight with us
and prove anything but losers 

I help plant and nurture
the finer seeds of all such tomorrows
as try to persuade
the world to turn as nature would have it,
pitted though it be
against the worst of humanity’s flaws
and baser desires
giving it (and us) just cause for a determination
to devise and effect reparation 

I have nursed broken hearts
and minds to a greater sense of wellness
than the very society
that would do them harm in the first place,
not least for its failing
to mark how its population nurtures
a split personality,
its diversity of socio-cultural-religious ideals
erecting fences, building walls 

Call me, Pillow, where hope and love share dreams
of saving worlds last seen fraying at the seams

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2020