We are all past-present-future in
the flesh. We inherit certain genes and much of our approach to life is taken
from historical figures who have made a deep impression on just as we, in how
we live our lives, make an impression on others for better or worse; family,
friends, casual acquaintances, even complete strangers. It only takes one
moment in time when something we say or do strikes a chord in someone’s life
that will play out forever.
We won’t all make the national
archives, of course, but there is another, more extensive to the point of being
inexhaustible archive that is the human mind-body-spirit, that key player in
human nature that should never be underestimated; whoever and wherever we are,
whatever our socio-cultural-religious background, gender or sexual persuasions,
it is the backbone of a common humanity that has seen the human race also rise
above all history has thrown at it, just as it will continue to do, even as the
C-19 coronavirus continues to impact on us all.
This poem is a kenning.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE HUMAN RACE
I walk with ghosts, night and day,
a
presence as real to me as my own reflection
greeted
in mirrors, shop windows,
still
waters in dream-places keeping memories
and
sometime companions alive,
urging
mind-body-spirit like voices in the ear
egging urging me on, regardless
of any obstruction fallen or placed
in my way
whether
by accident or design
I talk with ghosts, night and day,
and
they listen without interruption, just a nod
or
shake of the head occasionally,
sufficient
to persuade or dissuade any thoughts
to
action or inaction gathering pace
demanding
I look again or press on, regardless
where
inspiration has landed a hit,
missed
its mark altogether, deserves discussion
or
better left to gather dust
I bare all to ghosts, night and day,
far
more even than to those who know me best
if
only because I dare not share
any
part of me that takes its cue from the dead
for
fear of being misunderstood
or
(worse) denied a voice, left with less of a life
to
speak of than even a ghost,
reduced
to a skeleton in someone’s cupboard,
exhibit
for some eager archivist
I am that
past-present-future making of humanity
what it will, and am called History
Copyright R. N. Taber 2018;
2020
[Note: This post/ poem also appears on my gay-interest poetry blog today.]