A Feeling for Crosswords OR Not every Answer is the Right One
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Just
as completing a crossword requires that we take our cue from each and every
clue it provides, it could be said that saving the planet asks that we follow
much the same procedure; first, though, we need to properly read and make sense
of the clues before we act on any cues which we are authoritatively reassured
are most likely to see what we have started through to a successful end.
Uneasy
sirs a Muse
in
the role of cynic, so many turnings
to
choose from
and
who’s to say any one kinder
than
another,
left to toss and turn on a hotbed
of
indecision
and
confusion, asking of native imagination
but
to show me some compassion?
Left
tossing and turning
like
a whore harbouring even more regrets
than
tales she might care
to
share with tabloids peddling
their
shoddy goods
over
a quality marmalade spread,
courtesy
of higher
and
lower elements of a global consciousness
sucking
up to (Value-for-Money?)
Still
tossing and turning,
when
not fawning over soft soap politics
or
such watchpersons
insisting
humility but a primitive fantasy,
especially
concerning
a
public judiciary last heard observing
over its favourite breakfast
how we needs must balance morality’s scales
against any need to improve sales
Oh,
the tossing and turning
over
the chances of winning The Lottery,
sorting
the Irish Question
for
all time at two-across, five down
on
the beast
of
a Rush Hour train about as likely
to
save the planet
as
see those campaigning for a cleaner, safer one
arriving
for work on time
More
tossing and turning,
for
a so-weary and inept Muse struggling
with
a poetry needing
to
relate how life’s more than a show
put
on in passing
by
over-rated players too busy courting
media
attention
and
telling the world what it most wants (?) to hear
to
make sure it has a future
Uneasy
stirs a Muse
feeling
lost on Platform One,
last
train long gone,
and
not a clue as to what’s going on,
until
younger voices
assure
the would-be passenger
that the
timetable
is
out of date, revised late, but better a late than never
a
stitch in time, whatever...?
Less
tossing and turning
for
a Muse’s growing belief
in
young people
of
the world not only insisting it turn
over
a new leaf,
but
gradually converting doubters
to
their way
of
thinking, old guards all but reconciled to its changing,
a
better future beckoning
Copyright
R. N. Taber 2001 rev. 2021
[Note: First composed in 1984, an earlier version of this poem appears under the title 'A Feeling for Crosswords' in my first collection, Love and Human Remains by R. N. Taber,, Assembly Books, 2001.] RT
Labels: climate change, collective responsibility, conservation, Earth, global consciousness, human nature, human spirit, life forces, nature, personal space, poetry, politics, positive thinking, survival. self-awareness
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home