I started school in 1950 and never did well academically. Yet, as if not more importantly, I learned a lot from a hard hit generation of post-war teachers. Upon his retirement, I asked one (as children do) if being old was scary ‘what with death and all that’. He shrugged and gave it little thought before replying, ‘You reap what you sow in life, Taber. Sow well, and enjoy doing it, whatever and wherever it may be. Enjoy might not always be the first word that comes to mind, but satisfaction is much the same thing. Whatever, the chances are you’ll find Death isn’t such a grim reaper after all.’
That was more than half a century ago. Out of the blue, I found myself thinking about him and those words of wisdom; both inspired this poem, written to help lift myself out of an inexcusably negative awareness of growing old and the cancer nagging at my prostate.
NATURE'S WAY
Sometimes, hearts lie heavy
on spirits young and fancy free,
in a world, oh, but less kind
than in its past it ever looked to be
in selective archives
No mornings up with the lark,
flying high among patches of blue,
negotiating storm clouds
like a seasoned performer in the art
of positive thinking
Some may suppose little left
but sweet dreams to soften the blow
of time passing ever faster...
heart, mind and body left to babysit
a restless spirit
Ah, but nature has other ideas,
nurturing life forces to the very end
of any span only visible
to the applauding eye, ever mindful
of its seasons
On Earth Mother’s watch, keeper
of all living things, human and other,
no heartless discrimination
along narrow lines of good, bad, ugly,
or judgement passed
If a sad mind likely to lead us on
into a world of tears at losing its shine,
it’s a sadder spirit still
sees us taken in by the sweet-smelling
poetry of self-pity
Where a body less able to follow
first instincts to leave clear footprints
worth following in,
let it take its cue from sun-moon-stars
cruising centuries
So I grow old, so what? C’est la vie;
the mind-spirit-body self can but dream
of rewriting its history…
while its spirit makes of us what we will,
no end-game
Though death
would shut us out
of the world
(however we perceive it)
find rest and
peace
in any heart
continuing to reach out to us
for joie de
vivre
Copyright R. N. Taber (2017)