A Poet's Blog: Roger N.Taber shares his thoughts & poems...

Thoughts and observations by English poet Roger N. Taber, a retired librarian and poet-novelist.- "Ethnicity, Religion, Gender, Sexuality ... these are but parts of a whole. It is the whole that counts." RNT [NB While I have no wish to create a social network, I will always reply to critical emails about my poetry. Contact: rogertab@aol.com].

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Location: London, United Kingdom

Sadly, a bad fall in 2012 has left me with a mobility problem, and being diagnosed with prostate cancer the same year hasn't helped, but I get out and about with my trusty walking stick as much as I can, take each day as it comes and try to keep looking on the bright(er) side of life. Many of my poems reflect the need to nurture a positive-thinking mindset whatever life throws at us.

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

The Other Side of Christmas


Religious festivals are, among other things, about thinking of others and not taking all we have in life for granted since, there but for good fortune, go you and I...

For those men and women (some of them gay) fighting wherever there is conflict for a better, kinder, world,  may the future hold some real progress in that direction. As for the politicians who send them there, let’s hope they won’t lose sight of those finer aims either, in spite of being preoccupied, as they invariably are, with their own personal standing on the world stage. Nor should we forget loved ones left behind while those in the thick of war risk their lives on a daily basis.

Many fight another war, this time on the Home Front; against poverty, prejudice, loneliness, depression, rejection, unemployment…

I recall, some years ago now, sympathising with a elderly neighbour who had fallen on hard times after a company in which he had been a major shareholder collapsed. " A bad business," he agreed, "but it's as the wife says, so long as we have family and [or]friends we care about and who care about us, who needs shares in anything else?"  At the time, it struck me as a rather trite comment, a way of saving face perhaps. In my 70's now, I often contemplate the wisdom of those words, and cherish the sense of well-being with which they never fail to fill me.

Unhappy people have told me how they hate being told to count their blessings because they are too few. Maybe they - and more, if not all of us - need to look (and count) again...?

THE OTHER SIDE OF CHRISTMAS

No Christmas tree in the window,
no cards or festive decoration,
no real interest in some Baby Jesus,
cause of starry-eyed celebration

As for listening out for reindeer,
deaf ears will catch no sound
or bells ringing out glad tidings
of great joy to (all?) mankind

No joy in snowflakes whirling past
like dervishes on a battlefield
assured of spoils in this, my city,
by climate change across the world

As for taking comfort and delight
in any religious celebration,
fat chance, when all its factions
primed for eternal division…

Nothing special for Christmas lunch
(but better than going hungry)
yet I dare say we’ll survive another
parody of common humanity

Some folks struggle, same folks cope
for shares in Love, Guardian of Hope 


Copyright R. N. Taber 2009

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Monday, 4 June 2012

Canaletto Revisited

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

1,000 boats, several orchestras and chamber music, Royal barges the like of which hadn’t been seen for 200 years...

The seven mile long Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant that took place yesterday (June 3, 2012) was inspired by Canaletto’s paintings of the arrival of Catherine of Braganza to marry Charles II in 1662, when 1,000 boats took to the river to welcome here. (See below)

While no poem can do the occasion justice, but I wanted to record the event in a villanelle to include in what will probably be my final collection in 2015 when I will be 70.



CANALETTO REVISITED

On a river that flows through a city,
hear bells ring out nationwide;
celebrations for a Diamond Jubilee

All is colour, cheers and pageantry
even politics briefly put aside
on a river that flows through a city

Sure respite from global austerity,
transcending multicultural divide;
celebrations for a Diamond Jubilee

Echoes of a land of Hope and Glory
taking war and peace in its stride
on a river that flows through a city

Regard and affection for monarchy,
in Commonwealth taking pride;
celebrations for a Diamond Jubilee

A godly queen, woman extraordinary,
true rock of a man at her side...
On a river that flows through a city,
celebrations for a Diamond Jubilee

Copyright R. N. Taber 2012





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