Shadows OR Points of View, Shades of Meaning

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

Hi, World, 

Well, here we go again, 

Another day of waking up to the Covid-19 variant and safety regulations we are all meant to follow, but some don’t so many of us are fearful of going out and about locally even for such essential everyday items as food. 

Overcoming fear, in any context, is never easy. I feel physically sick sometimes once I close the front door behind me and step out into the street. At 75, I have been fortunate enough to have my first vaccination, but only a few days ago so it will take a little while yet to kick in. Whatever, no room for complacency I will need to follow lockdown safety regulations, probably for months. Oh, well, needs must… and we can all but do our bit to help ease the awful stress faced by every key worker, especially those in hospitals and care homes, but unsung heroes too like those who collect our waste and clean our streets. 

Meanwhile, there is an ignorant, selfish minority who persist in protesting about their human rights being undermined and/or that Covid-19 is some kind of conspiracy. We can only ignore them, and get on with our own lives as best (and safely) as we can. 

Me, I feel a greater empathy with Humpty Dumpty every day, falling apart, and surrounded by pieces I haven’t a clue how to start putting together again. Time will tell, I guess. 

In the meantime, there is another day to get through on my own here, so I had better get on and make breakfast … having been awake long enough now to get a tighter grip on things, start re-energising myself by looking on the bright(er) side of life, and anticipating a kinder springtime of mind-body-spirit… 

Readers continue to ask how I can talk about spirituality yet separate it from any religious faith. 

As I have said more than once on the blog, and will probably say again, there is more to any human being than meets the eye, including his or her sexuality; the human spirit is as much a part of us if not more so, frim birth to death and in remembrance; one reason why I find the refusal of world religions recognise this and welcome LGBT people, instead of condemning us, as nothing short of hypocritical. Sexuality is, after all, a human condition, not a lifestyle choice, and even if it were, whatever happened to freedom of choice? 

As for a sense of spirituality, I suspect it embraces each and every one of us in various ways, religion or no religion; how we choose to use it, well, that is only human.

SHADOWS or POINTS OF VIEW, SHADES OF MEANING 

Birds of the air,
engaging with a friendly tree,
no less so for its want
of welcome shelter from wintry
elements 

Human beings,
engaging with creative therapy
by way of sheltering
from a coronavirus making what
it will of u 

Grey squirrels,
chasing shadows where grass
awaits its season
and the earth makes what it will
of winter 

All humanity,
made to chase its own shadow
for home truths
surfacing where common need
prevailing 

Yet, still it turns,
this multicultural world of ours,
no less so for its want
of welcome shelter from wintry
elements 

Neither sun by day,
nor moon by night (quite) shining
light enough
on such rights and wrongs as prefer
shadows 

Shadows, playing
much the same parts across history
in bringing
such common elements of humanity
together 

Even so, no shadow
hanging over us can resist such shades
of life and love
as comprise the (far) better, kinder part
of mind-body-spirit 

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2021

[Note; This post-poem also appears on my gay-interest poetry blog today.] RT