Making a Difference

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

"If you think you are too small to make a difference, ty sleeping with a mosquito." - Dalai Llama

Too often we underestimate the effect of the little things we do to try and make the lives of others that much better, but it is always worth remembering any kindnesses we perform may well have the effect of sending a message of goodwill which, in turn, may well be passed on and on and on... across generations, for all we know. 

Sadly, though, much the same can also be said for any acts of spite.

Now, we all make mistakes, of course, but while eighteenth century poet Alexander Pope may well have been spot on when he wrote "To err is human..."* it is no excuse for antisocial behaviour.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Will a fallen angel
pick on me and drag me away
or will a gentler spirit have mercy,
come Judgement Day?

Will a wolfish Death
delight in tearing me apart
or strike suddenly if no less cleanly
at my heart?

Will doves of peace
be left to wing eternal light
or an infernal dark, in other words,
out of mind, out of sight?

Not ours to know,
the how, where or when,
but encourage a grown any wiser self
to look and learn?

Dare we unite in peace
and love, let common sense
rule, or trust our leaders and betters
to do right by us?

The greater trust we have,
a brighter light likely shining
in ourselves and on each other, mutual
giving and taking

Where an endgame strategy
devised to put one over on us,
who dares, sees mind-body-spirit making,
all the difference

 Copyright R. N. Taber, 2002; rev. 2022

* From:: An Essay on Criticism, 1711.

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in my collection, First Person Plural, Assembly Books, 2002; it has been  considerably revised, however, and may not justify its being called a revised version.] RT

Past-Present-Future, a Collective Responsibility

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

A reader asks why I often write past-present-future as one word rather than separating past, present and future.  The interconnection is so great that I see them as a whole; just as time is a continuum so all we say and do at any one time will like as not affect and reflect not only ourselves, but others too - one way or another, to a greater or lesser extent, but significantly all the same  (whether we or they choose to  acknowledge it or not) in any near or distant moment in time.

As for the world in which we human beings persistently express a penchant for destruction and division ... is it not high time we focused more on pulling together, accepting and respecting each other's differences instead of playing socio-cultural religious-political football with them?

Any tears in the ozone layer will not mend themselves unless we all become more pollution conscious and stop arguing among ourselves long enough to take an honest look as how we are inflicting all but irretrievable damage to the planet.

Those leading politicians, with fingers in various Big Business pies, may well choose to play down the long-term effects of polluting the planet, but need to cut the rhetoric and act NOW or risk plunging future generations into an Armageddon scenario…

PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE, A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY 

In the rain, an acid rain, you’re there

sharing the burden of my despair

Let the world roll out its history

consigning us to memory,

clouds forbid the sun, heavens weep;

in my dark, your light I’ll keep,

till this mere flesh no more can stand

and Death lends us a hand

as through a graveyard in a gentle rain

we ghosts will walk and talk again

In the rain, an acid rain, you’re there,

sharing the burden of my despair

Though our world blast into infinity,

consigning us to the galaxy,

yet seedlings shall survive, endure

in Mother Nature's loving care

till songbirds, in time, return

to the killing fields of Everyman,

redeem a so-sorry history of acid rain

till humankind ghost us yet again

In the rain, an acid rain, we’re here

sharing the burden of all despair

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007; 2014

  

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears under the title ‘Easing the Burden’ in Accomplices to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]

Making a Start

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

Sometimes everything but everything seems to be going wrong and is almost too much to bear. Then it’s time to take a step back and consider what to DO.

Tell someone, preferably a close friend or relative who knows you well. A trouble shared really is a trouble halved.

Seek practical / professional help and advice. If you don’t know where to get it…ask. (Your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau is always a good start if you have money worries).

Come on, folks. Nothing is ever quite as bad as it looks.

Try resolving things instead of letting them get on top of you. If they cannot be resolved, try making the BEST of things instead of the worst. True, it’s never easy, but always worth making the effort. Don't try and muddle through on your own either. We all need help and support sometimes. There is no shame in asking. Besides, most people - especially those closest to us - LIKE to be asked.

Remember, if no one knows we need help, no one is in a position to give it. We have no right to complain that no one cares about us if we insist on keeping our troubles to ourselves. Yes, sometimes people let us down, society too. We can but try. More often than not, being positive achieves positive results.

So come on, folks. Let’s get a life instead of letting it get to us. [Could it be that Earth Mother has the same idea? Now, there’s a thought…]

PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE, EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR

Up to the eyes in debt,

split with lover,

redundancy rumours

hitting harder

than media hits on war, 

famine, floods,

earthquakes, disasters

breaking hearts, 

taking lives, and blaming  

global warming

when we’re not blaming

each other for never

getting it right no matter

how we might vote

No ozone hole to blame

for street crime,

racism or homophobia,

beggars (all ages)

haunting shoppers, kids

all but running riot

in supermarkets because

parents afraid to say

no, stop, don’t, mustn’t

or you’ll grow up
with few social skills

and even less hope

of getting parole halfway

into a life sentence

Must start to get real, nurture

a better, kinder world...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007; 2013

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears under the title 'Making a Start'  in Accomplices to  Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]

Caught On CCTV

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

This poem was written in 2006. It first appeared in an American poetry magazine and subsequently in my collection. It has been requested today by ‘Marian and Peter’ with whose wry comment to the effect that ‘nothing changes much, does it?’ I can but agree. Even so, it is down to each and every one of us to effect some  change for the better and let the ripples spread...

CAUGHT ON CCTV

Men and women, every shape, size, colour,
on the street…
crowding each other, elbowing a passage,
nobody apologising

Man in a suit, pocket picked by a kid about
fourteen…
Woman in a short skirt, fumbled by a guy
getting married soon

Children wanting this and that, parents look
scared to say, ‘No!’
Cop on the beat, deciding… no pay packet
worth this hassle?

Dark faces and lighter stuck in poems about
racism…
Light fingers and darker rewriting bylaws
for drug free zones

Child runs in front of a car, tyres screaming,
people crying blue murder…
Driver doesn’t even stop, a few folks rushing
to help, more hurrying on

People - all shapes, sizes, colours, lips moving
on deaf-blind streets

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007

[First published in Accomplices to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007.]