Getting the Better of Stress

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

"Don’t forget, beautiful sunsets need cloudy skies." – Paulo Coelho

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell." - Buddha

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." - William James

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." Marcus Aurelius

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed an uncharted land or opened a new doorway for the human spirit." - Helen Keller. 

Now, the pandemic has caused many of us to feel more stressed out than perhaps we quite realise. The death of Queen Elizabeth II has also hit many people harder than they quite realise; a seemingly permanent stable influence proven to be but human.

I have to say that, although no die-hard monarchist, I have been further upset to see and hear about protesters; there is a time and a place, surely? Besides most protests relate to political history. Whatever her private thoughts, the late Queen made a point of distancing herself from politics. She was our Head of State, but in name only. More importantly, she was a Woman of the People. The business of governing is down to the Government of the Day.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the late Queen’s reign was that she remained politically neutral, leaving the rest of us free to admire her, regardless of our ethnicity, sexuality, religion, politics, whatever...

It has always been my view that any protests, wherever in the world and for whatever reason, belong outside its Head of Government's residence or Parliament. 

As for history...well, that is as it is, for better and for worse; a learning curve  (we hope) for the Here-and-Now and future generations.

Whatever its causes (always more than one) stress is awful while it lasts; one of its more positive side-effects, though, is that we may well start asking ourselves why we feel this way and eventually feel motivated to at least making a start in doing something about it. Confiding in someone, even calling a help-line or, better still, letting loved ones and close friends know how we feel and asking for their help and support is a vital first step.

Once having decided to take that first step, even before we have actually carried it through, is invariably the beginning of the end to our distress.

Doing battle with a contrary self-awareness is never easy…But… needs must... as heart-and-soul message mind-body-spirit to get its act together and... wise up?

GETTING THE BETTER OF STRESS

Common sense, losing its voice,
afraid to ask for aid
for fear of being thought weak,
struggling like hell to exit
a gloomy maze, no clear sense
of direction, what little light
fading with every faltering move, 
unable to pray or even convince myself
tomorrow’s another day…

Sick at heart-and soul, no matter
a mind-body-spirit 
urging me to dismiss the demons
haunting, taunting me,
reminding me of happier times
before drowning them
in a sea of loneliness, any happiness
a lost cause, the too-eager fingers of panic
tightening around my neck…

Deep breaths, hold, let go, repeat,
an exercise in hope 
if ever there was one, attempting 
to regain the advantage
over demons, all shapes and sizes,
while, for all their hell-fire,
no less able than the better part of us
to resist counter-attacks by the warring grin
of anyone up for taking them on

Demons, driving me any which way
but loose, unless I dare
call on such life forces as likely
to get the better of them;
namely, love, friendship, guiding lights
come to help rescue me, 
a spirit of do-or-die more hell-bent
on seeing me find a way to rise above it all
than cover for a demon’s fall

Common sense dead set on going walk-about;
Time yet, though, to give someone a shout….

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

[Note: This post-poem appears on both poetry blogs today. I can but refer any readers interested in the reason to the Note I have posted there.] RT

Hello again from London UK

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

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho Marx

"The right way is not always the easy and popular way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character." - Margaret Chase Smith

"Idealism is the noble toga that political gentlemen drape over their will to power." - Aldous Huxley

"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."- Mao Zedong

"It is not enough to win a war, it is more important to organise the peace." - Aristotle

Hello again everyone from London UK,

Sorry, no poem today, nor even one in preparation, as this persistent hot weather tends to play havoc with this life forces poet's as I try to stay positive and look forward to to having a cool autumn breeze whispering sweet nothings in my ear before too long. Even so, expect a new poem soon.

Meanwhile, a reader asks who I support in the current race here in the UK, between  Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, to become our next prime minister. Well, it is irrelevant who I support as I am not a Conservative party member, so have no vote in the matter.  It is my personal opinion, though, that Rishi Sunak would make the better prime minister, especially during the current financial crisis. Living costs are rising all the time and inflation is spiralling out of control. 

The Bank of England has raised interests rates to help address inflation, but predicts it is likely to remain high throughout the rest of his year and well into the next. As wages are unable to keep pace with inflation, many households are facing a daily nightmare, worse still for those home owners with a variable mortgage.

Although I have no vote, I do have a personal opinion, of course, in which context I support Rishi Sunak for our next prime minister; his priority appears to be getting inflation under control, which makes good sense to me. Ms Truss is courting the populist vote, which may be music to many ears, but, in my humble opinion, will do little or nothing to ease the financial crisis in the longer term. 

Personally, I think a General Election should have been called following Boris Johnson's resignation. The world is a very different place than when he was elected and I feel very strongly that  everyone, not just a few thousand Conservative Party members, should have a vote on who is best able to get us out of the political as well as financial crisis facing the UK at this time.

Although the staffing issues that many employers are facing across the UK is being blamed on Brexit, it is also my opinion that many if not most of these could and should have anticipated by the powers that be. 

As one who lost faith in politics years ago, I cannot say I am surprised by the level of political one-upmanship demonstrated by political parties worldwide; party politics is rarely in any country's best interests where its rhetoric  is often if not invariably more concerned with winning voters over than taking responsibility for its future. No one plays the blame game better than a top politician.

Whatever happens here in the UK and around the world, we can but take each days as it comes and do our best to continue nurturing a positive thinking mindset or else, as my late mother would say, worry ourselves into an early grave.

Stay positive, folks. Never easy, but.. it beats any alternative, that's for sure.

Many thanks for dropping by, back soon... with a poem.

Take care, stay safe and keep well,

Roger

Heatwave

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

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” – Henry David Thoreau

“The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have the facts and solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change.” – Greta Thunberg

Cherish the natural world, because you’re a part of it and depend on it.” -  Sir David Attenborough

 Now, much of Europe is in the grip of the most sustained heatwave for fifty years. In London and other parts of the UK, temperatures are forecast to peak tomorrow and/ or the next day at around 40 degrees Celsius, which would be the highest ever recorded here.

In the meantime, those of us who can barely stand even moderate heat, await tomorrow with baited breath, given that a significant number of deaths, directly related to the heatwave, have been reported across southern Europe.

Isn’t it about time we all took those scientists who have been studying climate change for years more seriously instead of being in denial or, worse, treating it as none of our immediate concern?

People matter. The planet matters. The past-present-future of all creatures great and small deserves better, surely, than an endgame that has the potential to reduce it to ashes?

So, what can we all do to, each in their own way, to at least limit climate change …better late than too late…?

HEATWAVE

Apollo, raging at humanity
for breaking faith with a natural world
force fed good intentions
meant to improve quality of life
for native communities 
too busy fighting amongst each other
to let serious thought dwell
on the effects of climate change in a future
too distant to really matter

Apollo, messaging humanity
to have a care when poisoning earth, sea
and air with egos driven
by greed and/ or a desire to get one over
his/ her neighbour 
because appearances matter, prove
that human nature
has the capacity to do better than but wait
on some fruitful turn of fate? 

Apollo, in sheer desperation,
commanded by an Earth Mother driven
to breaking such laws of nature
as have been attended to for centuries
in spite of human vagaries
spilling over landscapes of such poetry
as would have seeing-eyes,
hearing-ears, attend the living, one and all,
a kinder future, heart-and soul

Sun, whose risings, settings,
have marked the acts and contemplations
of generations, for better, worse
or such puzzles to be muddled through
as best we can, tomorrows
always waiting in the wings to see what we
will make or break of it,
whether quality-of-life is taskmaster or slave,
healing power or topical heatwave

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

Bits and Pieces

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

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” – James Thurber

“Bitterness is kike cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns all clean.” Maya Angelou

“Where once estrangement has arisen between those who truly love each other, everything seems to widen the breach.” – Mary Elizabeth Braddon

“Nothing is as good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare

Now. kith and kin fall out all the time, often the closer for falling back in again. But something and someone has to give, at least try to put bits and pieces back where they belong. Easy enough, when everyone shares the same insight, but insight can become worn, even flawed if left in bits and pieces for too long. 

The old saying goes that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ – but like many old sayings, is little more than wishful thinking, depending on why the absences, whose hearts and just how much it matters to all concerned in terms of peace of mind.  Sometimes we don’t try hard enough to secure the latter, or our efforts are discouraged and/or misinterpreted. 

I guess, there’s more wisdom in old sayings than aspires to meet the eye or move the tongue, such as:  ‘There’s no point in crying over spilt milk,’ – but that, too, depends on where spilt, how much, and are we prepared to wipe it up ourselves of leave it to whom we assume responsible?

No easy answers, but if it’s a question we are asking of ourselves, the chances are we need to put our personal space to rights, one way or another, the sooner the better.

BITS AND PIECES

We parted long ago,
haven’t crossed paths for years,
you, assuming why
I fell so short of expectations,
making assumptions, always safer
than asking questions

Ask not, fear not
any answers that might close in
on certain home truths,
best avoided in case tempted
to look to closely at a you-me-us
left in bits and pieces

Blame me as much 
as you will, but it requires two
to dance a tango,
watching others wondering 
why we don't care to take the floor,
nothing there anymore?

Nothing comes of nothing, nor could,
but for asking why we never did

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

"This 'n' That": Pillow Talk

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

"A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow." - Charlotte Brontë

"We are such stuff/ as dreams are made on; / and our little life/ is rounded so with sleep." - William Shakespeare (The Tempest)

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi

Some readers may be interested in the history of today’s poem in so far as it bares little resemblance to my first effort, apart from its main theme/s, which I lost when my pc crashed just as I was in the process of slightly revising it! 

Now...a reader has emailed to say that, like me, he is in his late 70’s, has prostate cancer, taking stock of his life and wondering “…just what the hell it has all been for.” 

Well, only he can answer that one, but I cannot believe it of anyone that they haven’t had good times as well as bad, heavenly moments as well as hellish ones. Me, I try to focus on certain heavenly moments whenever I find myself ‘taking stock’... and trust they may define me more credibly than the latter.

Meanwhile Russia continues its war on Ukraine, despite huge losses among the ranks of both aggressor and defender, while the West does its best to appear supportive of the latter by supplying arms as well as rhetoric without  provoking  Vladimir Putin and his supporters into a potentially WW111 situation.

As the old truism goes, hope springs eternal… wry bardic grin7

"THIS 'N'THAT": PILLOW TALK

“Why, this, that, who and - whatever?
Such are questions we may well often ask
of mind-body-spirit, time and again,
so anxious for answers, feeling let down
for getting none, merely alternatives
to sift through and see if we can discover
some, at least, for comfort’s sake
if not as great a peace of mind as we’d hoped,
enough, though, to quieten our pillows

In the springtime of our years, innocence
shielding us from such the ways of the world
as likely to confuse, even abuse us
as we pass through its seasons, now enjoying
feelings of all but touching the sky
on a playground swing, now free to laugh
at the ups and downs of a see-saw,
only vaguely relating such delight to any doubts
imposed by nature and human nature

Ours seasons pass, various thrills and spills
of maturity likely making indelible impressions
on the very character of any heart-and-soul,
still asking much the same questions
of a mind-body-spirit, left feeling no less let down
for such answers as our personal space alone
needs must sift through a history of mixed feelings,
home in on joys of love and peace
reconciling with, atoning for, even forgiving

No abstract notion of ‘fate’ defines humanity
more than a capacity for divining such home truths
as will (invariably) direct or misdirect us
through its maze, sins and blessings according
to this or that agenda as drawn up
by society or community, politics or religion
for all we are, a veritable hotchpotch
of passions, arguing needs to keep up appearances,
rushing to judgements, making war, not peace

No equality of either circumstances or genes,
finds mind-body-spirit in the driving seat,
hopefully making sure we take more right turns
than wrong, winding up in as good a place
as any, if not quite where we might have wished
to be, but nowhere and no one can be right
all the time, yet less of a crisis for any of us 
able to keep looking on the bright(er) side of life,
easier-said-than-done notwithstanding

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

 

Secrets

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

"The deepest hunger in life is a secret that is revealed only when a person is willing to unlock a hidden part of the self." – Deepak Chopra

"Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.” – Paul Tournier

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new". – Socrates

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world." - Buddha

Few contemporary religions believe that homosexuality has a place in the community.  History, though, has a habit of suggesting otherwise. Ancient carvings worldwide have been recovered to show men and women having homosexual sex. 

Now, the homophobes among us may argue that civilization has progressed since then, but progress is a matter of opinion and, as a gay man and poet, I am inclined, in all conscience, to agree with the Buddha. 

Mind you, for many among us, our thoughts are invariably manipulated, for better or worse, by various faux stereotypes as created - either knowingly or otherwise - by such powers that be that, in turn, feel motivated to manipulate and welcome the thoughts of others into a singular narrow-mindedness that may well last a lifetime, but for...a steadily growing, enlightening relationship with nature?

SECRETS

Even a watery sun on a winter’s day
can lighten a burdened heart
inspiring even complete strangers
to exchange smiles
like secret lovers refusing kith and kin
so much as a look-in,
engaging in the sheer ecstasy 
of being alive, before the world gets to pelt us
with its spurious ideas

Summer, leafy buds of spring open
to such joie de vivre 
as only they know for their engaging
with nature and human nature
acknowledging both the best and worst
in one another, like secrets
shared and hopefully worked through
to such ends as may well cast caution to the wind
in the face of humankind

Love, whether for person, place, pet
or, better still, all three,
homing us in on a spirituality regarded
by some with suspicion
for not obviously engaging with the politics
of religion for having less trust in it
than perceived as necessary 
for any such mind-body-spirit as perceived worthy
of a common humanity

Ah, but there is a spirituality of thought
independent of historical agendas 
drawn up with the best of such intentions, 
aspiring to improve quality 
of human life, bring us peace of mind, 
within sure boundaries expressed
by moving fingers having writ, yet not
moved on as every Here-and-Now asks and expects
of each You-Me-Us

It’s in a proven adaptability to change 
(or not, as the case may well be)
that humanity needs must acknowledge
to rise above its worst fears,
cease to take them out on those who appear
to fall short of such expectations
as moving fingers aspiring to engage us all
with mixed interpretations of nature
and human nature, invoking a common source in both
to… endure

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

[Note: this post-poem also appears on my gay-interest poetry blog today.] RNT

A Little Life Music

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

Music gives a soul to he universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” - Plato

Music acts like a magic key. To which the most tightly closed hearts open.” – Maria von Trapp

“The only thing better than singing is more singing.” – Ella Fitzgerald

Now, why you may well ask, am I writing up a poem-post about the joy of music when I can’t play an instrument, sing a note and have lived with a significant degree of deafness all my life? 

Good question, that. The short answer is that am always listening to favourite music and songs playing in my head; especially when I am feeling sad, lonely or scared enough for self-pity to take me to the very edge of The Abyss. Music reminds me why I shouldn’t jump. Oh, I’ve been pushed many a time, and fallen. But, who hasn’t, by giant shadows that mean us ill?  

Yet, even while falling, I’d hear sounds of music in my head returning me to terra-firma, if only to start living, learning and listening all over again…

A LITTLE LIFE MUSIC

My cap hides less hair than it did,
as well as mixed feelings, running riot
from time to time
when not invoking a passion for any music,
poetry or rhyme sure to give
savage breast and unquiet mind a welcome rest
from trying to reason after-shocks
of pleasure-pain imposed by its own and the world’s
least concealed flaws

Music, may well be the food of love,
left to play on even in the face of rejection,
human nature least inclined
to see a willow for its branches, falling
like tears for times hearts
all but broken by attributing such meaning
to feelings within as first
lit its fires, fanned its flames, only to have it all but die
without understanding why 

Mind-body-spirit thrives to the sound
of music, no matter how its life forces presented,
by humankind or Earth Mother,
amateur or professional, a confessional
of sorts where heart-and soul
may well fear to go, dreading what it may uncover
in such recesses as it may yet nurture,
while struggling to keep all but hidden even from itself;
mixed feelings on a lonely shelf

Yet, even the saddest heart-and-soul can
learn to sing again, to a little life music composed
in kinder times by friendly ghosts,
now lending it huff and puff enough to revive
half-forgotten dreams,
leading us, in turn, to doors closed to us far too long,
pleading we fling them open, let music
back in, in time to see the willow weep such tears of light,
as no darkness can ever snuff out

Though insight deflected by brilliant sunshine or heavy rain,
trust a little life music to see its way clear again…

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

All Change

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

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” - Anne Frank

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.” – John Milton (Paradise Lost).

I have to confess I struggled with todays' poem; the confused state of my thought processes down to IT problems made me feel as if I was losing touch with any creative ideas altogether. New technology is not only a challenge I can barely meet halfway these days, but one I suspect, with which many older folks around the world are having difficulty finding ways of coping. Yes, I will be 77 later this year, but that is not considered 'old' by many people, not these days anyway. And, yes, I have some good friends to help me. But...

Ah, but I am also retired and live alone, as are a growing number or people in the world today.  When we find ourselves staring into The Abyss, there is  - more often than not - only willpower to prevent our tumbling over the edge.

Now, age is not necessarily the only diet on which our more positive life forces need to get right in order to function well, enable us to fulfil whatever potential drives us, for better or worse. The circumstances in which we find ourselves as we grow up, older, and (hopefully) wiser with regard to best dealing with what some call 'fate' or 'destiny' - plays no insignificant part. As regular readers will know, I count myself among those who would contend that, to no small degree, we create our own 'fate' or 'destiny' with whatever tools or talents we are gifted by the life forces within us. 

One such tool, and often the hardest to use, is the ability to 'think happy'. So, how do we think happy when our lives take a sudden nosedive? Good question, and no easy answers. I know it sounds trite to resort to such old sayings as 'Where there's life, there's hope' - but it is so true. Hopes is possibly the best motivator for having us rise to some emotional and/ or physical challenge, make the best of a bad job... whatever... and move on, driven by a Willpower provided by sheer resilience with Hope at the wheel... Such, I suspect is the nightmare situation in which not only the people of Ukraine are facing, but also those feeling trapped in 'living nightmares' at home and abroad; indeed, all refugees seeking a better, kinder, emotional and/ or physical landscape.

So how do we 'think happy' when we are in the depths of despair or heading that way? Good question, and no easy answers. While the quotations above may give a clue to how yours truly has coped with the highs and lows of life, everyone has to find their own way. Most of us do, sooner or later; in many if not most cases, including yours truly, tending to be later a lot more often than sooner...

ALL CHANGE

Waking to a beautiful sunrise
on yet another day of having to contend
with such demands as modernity
is inclined to impose on mind-body-spirit
that heart-and-soul are hard put
to play its part, constantly undermined
by ageing thought processes
unable to keep pace with an ever-changing world
where ‘progress’ is the password

As inspirational any dawn may be,
even to the suffering heart-and-soul awakening
to a barrage of slings and arrows
scoring direct hits designed to weaken, render it
more vulnerable to everyday forces
always making excuses that they mean well,
designed as aids to modern life,
not weapons meant to give various powers that be
greater control over this ’n’ that society

Yet, there lies within the heart-and-soul
of human nature a potentially greater affinity
with peace than war, no matter
what mines a changing world may choose to lay
across such finer landscapes as arts 
and sciences seeking to compensate for the worst
that any less noble one-upmanship
seeks to present itself (under a various false colouring)
to heart-and soul, ‘progress’ notwithstanding

Day, come to shine such light across the world
as even refugees made to move on from life forces
familiar, loved and treasured so
can hope to find others, be as inspired by them
as by happier times engraved
on heart-and-soul, feeding into mind-body-spirit,
a native willpower refusing
to be put down for long by enemies without and within,
but take their cue from tomorrow’s rising sun

Though enemy forces may appear to defeat,
even kill it, they invariably underestimate the power
of mind-body-spirit to rise above
the worst of things, make its peace with the past,
not only look positively to the future,
but also reset, recharge, and customise it,
reasoning with heart-and-soul that nothing less than
a whole will do, no paradise lost (ever) quite irredeemable,
can resist an affinity with the seemingly impossible

Having lived, despite tears for various fears haunting us daily,
remains nature and human nature’s enduring legacy

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

[Note: A reader has emailed to criticise the blog and poems for my often repeating myself (in both). Well, apologies if any readers find it irritating; it is partly down to growing old, I guess, but - as my mother often used to say, anything worth saying has to be worth repeating...?] RT

No Bedtime Story

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

“If I could have done it myself, I would have already done it: pried open my ribs and etched the Word onto my heart’s beating chambers. But it seemed my ex-gay counsellors were the only ones with enough skill and experience to wield the scalpel.” – Garrard Conley (Boy Erased.)

"Terror doesn't change people from gay to straight. It just hurts innocent people." - DaShanne Stokes

“Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.” - Khalil Gibran

Now, like most LGBT folks here in the UK and around the world, I am appalled that the British Government has done a U-turn with regards to the banning of conversion therapy, except for transgender people; the implication is that it is more natural to deal with gender identity problems since they are a mistake that deserves to be rectified, whereas being lesbian, gay or bisexual is a matter of lifestyle choice... which, of course, it isn't.

It is incredible that such naivety and subsequent abuse of Human Rights in any so-called 'civilised' society should persist even into the 21st century, although as a measure of political expediency it should come as no surprise. God forbid, certain powers that be among the electorate, especially those whose religious agendas see the LGBT ethos as an enemy life force, should be so offended as to put their voting rights on permanent hold...

This post-poem also appears on my gay poetry blog today; although feedback suggests that although more LGBT readers browse both blogs now, a significant number don’t, especially those who use a shared computer and feel obliged to remain ‘closet’ for whatever reason.

To those (relatively few) readers who have emailed me in the past to complain about gay-interest poems appearing here as well as my gay-interest poetry blog, I can only repeat what I’ve said so many times before, that a poem is a poem is a poem just as a person is a person is a person, regardless of how critics may choose to chew over any bare bones.

NO BEDTIME STORY

I lost out on many pleasures of youth,
mind-body-spirit afraid in those dark days
to raise its head above a thick fog
of such misinformation and homophobia
as likely to appeal to those bigots
around the world to whom prejudice comes
as naturally as breathing, sad souls
whose personal space so damaged by the cut
and thrust of life, they must lash out

Better late than never, I saw the light,
emerged from my lonely closet into a new day,
thinking I needs must tell the bigots
that I’m gay, or else how to even attempt
any getting them to see the awful hurt
they inflict on the likes of me, no less a person
in my own right or in any godly sight
for being honest with myself, family and friends,
no matter how strange my story sounds...?

Though I regret the coward in me that hid
myself away from the dazzling light of home truth
during those early years of self-discovery,
revealing, ticking off a checklist of scary things
I had neither confidence nor vocabulary
then to express, unable to confide in anyone,
fearing verbal or physical abuse or, worse,
conversion therapy’s crude attempts to reshape me
in an image tailored to its host ‘society’

By the time I felt able to tell the world I’m gay,
I was less afraid to look it n the eye, could argue
the case for mind-body-spirit, heart-and soul,
confident enough to resist being thrust into freefall
yet again, closet days scratched into my brain,
a hurt I’d vowed nothing and no one would make me
endure again, nor any need, since now all-human,
for all its flaws, none of which include such desires
as lighting love-and-freedom’s home fires

Surely, a twenty-first century deserves far better
than shades of a bigotry hell bent on undermining
the more positive-thinking mind-body-spirit
aspiring to a global consensus on peace and love,
no matter its bias in politics and religions, 
arguing against a personal space always seeking
a kinder place, one less inclined to dismiss
its take on life as but a measure of such behaviour
as well-deserving contempt and censure..?

Humanity is no favourite novel, but comprising
real people battling real odds, for better or worse...
and well-deserving due respect for our efforts
no matter who we are, whatever sexual orientation
best defines us as we grow into our lives,
learning as much about our true selves and each other
as the world we share, one deserving no less care
than flowers sown in field or garden by human hands
or blown there by some heavenly wind...

Let others in the world make of us what they will,
but never forget we are a common humanity,
like it or not, and should it nurse any such reservation
as it needs must pass on for any good reason
other than society’s general well-being and salvation,
then let it keep its big mouth well and truly shut,
further research its grievances before endorsing wrongs
that have made outsiders of selective insiders for centuries
for no other reason than because, because...

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

 

Hello from London UK

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

Hello,  everyone from a bitterly cold London, UK,

Sorry, no poem again today as I am unwell, although still looking on the bright(er) side of life and hope to be back with a poem soon.

Only a few days ago, we were basking in warm spring sunshine here, but now, the weather witches have magicked up a brief return to a wintry climate. So, it's off with the tee shirts and shorts and on  with the overcoats and central heating again...

Sadly, with rising food and energy costs, many people are having to live with the cold; some families are even having to keep their heating low or off, just to be able to feed themselves while others are increasingly having to make use of food banks. 

Yes, hard to believe in 21st century UK!

Nothing, of course, compares with the everyday misery and suffering endured by the people of Ukraine as Russian troops continue to pursue invasion tactics with merciless intent, tens of thousands  of civilian survivors forced to flee the ruins of their homes and cities. So far, sanctions, by various countries in a shocked and appalled West, seem to be having little effect on Putin, although already making themselves felt on the  everyday lives of ordinary Russian people.

It is awful to think that many Russians believe the misinformation they are fed by a State-controlled media that not only encourages them to support Putin in believing that the war in Ukraine is totally justified, but is also responsible for many young Russians having gone to fight, believing they are  'liberating' Ukraine from some Nazi-like repression.

Yes, hard to believe in a 21st century world.

A friend here in the UK who has a Russian neighbour tells me that she has been disowned by her family in Russia for speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In parts of Russia itself, though, some people have access to alternative News reports; there have been a growing number of anti-war protests; protesters are immediately rounded up, arrested, and now face the likely prospect pf long prison sentences.

Yes, hard to believe, even in a 21st century Russia. 

Me, I count my blessings. My health issues are nowhere near as debilitating as those endured my many people around the world, including here in the UK; I can get out and about, albeit slowly, with the aid of my trusty walking stick and have been living with prostate cancer for nearly ten years now, longer than I anticipated when first diagnosed, so... I may not be able to enjoy retirement just as I once imagined, but I remain young at heart and continue to take each day as it comes and try to make the best of them rather than dwell on the worst, just as I did when I was young for real.

Yes, I miss the mutual exchange of love and support between friends and loved ones who have died, but that love and support lives on within us, as a source of inspiration as well as precious memories; we can continue draw on it as much, if not more so, as from the living.. and having known some very inspirational people, from various walks of life, I do just that. 

We all make mistakes, some we can redeem, some we can't, bur we can at least learn from them and not repeat them; where broken relationships are concerned, it takes two to dance that particular tango; it remains on of the greater human tragedies that some just can't... or won't.

Yes, mind-body-spirit has much to be thankful for even during such hard times as history has shown the human race across its history, no exceptions made for a 21st century world population enduring much the same across various landscapes of personal space.

Expect a poem again before too long, folks. Meanwhile, we can but all do our best to nurture a positive thinking mindset if only to feed those hopes and dreams that, in turn, feed a joie de vivre that may well suffer serious injury from time to time, but will, as likely as not be inspired to rise above them,  live to fight and defeat its demons another day...

Yes, such is the poetry and prose of everyday life...in any century.

Take care,  folks, and many thanks, as always, for dropping by,

Hugs,

Roger

Battle Royal

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

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” – Carl Jung

“Faraway there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.” Louisa May Alcott

 Vladimir Putin’s denials of ill-intent towards Ukraine, prior to authorising its invasion by Russian troops, must surely place him among the ranks of the worst dictators – and war criminals - in history; ironic, indeed, his argument that Ukraine deserves to be ‘liberated’ from the grip of what he defines as ‘pro-Nazi’ forces within it.

While the tragedy of human nature, at home and abroad, has always been its vulnerability to lies, its salvation - sooner or later -  lies in the power of mind-body-spirit to expose and rise above such lies, even if it cannot (ever) undo or truly compensate for any damage already done...

BATTLE ROYAL

There is a darkness
that will gobble us up if we let it,
fail to fight back,
let a lightness in again, sunshine
and just a little rain
from time to time, enough to nurture
a stale soul, starved
of care, left to whatever neglect has in mind
to repay in kind

There is a darkness,
capable of gripping mind-body-spirit
in a stranglehold
we may resist, as kinder forces
would have their say,
but any such light determinedly stalled
by mixed feelings, now throwing
a native wisdom out in the cold, now begging it
return to the fold

There is a darkness
refusing to surrender to the resilience
of mind-body-spirit
to any corruption of heart-and-soul
likely to but score
an own goal once it entertains such ideas
as fighting its battles
in no-win situations. contrived by poor life choices,
and lost opportunities

There is a darkness,
in loneliness that, try as it may, cannot
halt the dawning of days
of love and friendship, as sure to flower
and bring to all landscapes
of mind-body-spirit such light as only they
can return us whole,
less fearful just for knowing they are there, no matter
our past-present-future 

Beware, in darkness, political resources to such devilry
as may yet lull humanity into a false sense of security...

 Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top Dog

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

““Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” Mao Tse-tung

"Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. If they are equal, they are not free.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn

"Cry Havoc!, and let slip the dogs of war." (William Shakespeare (Julius Caesar)

Now, world politics thrives on half-truths and straight-faced lies. Vladimir Putin’s pre-war denials about Russian military exercises bordering Ukraine amounting to preparations for an invasion and no cause for alarm bells to be ringing around the world...are clearly a classic example political strategy.

The bad news is that such strategies are as common to the darker side of human nature as the air we breathe; the good news is that the majority of us can taste its poison on the tongue and spit it out, hopefully before it can do any mind-body-spirit irreparable harm.

TOP DOG

There are places we can run
whenever conscience pricking us
to flee criticism,
even retribution in some cases,
where a wisdom
of years and its learning processes
have lost their way,
led us astray into a maze of its intentions
and our own ambitions

Mind-body-spirit finds itself
pitted against its own kind, resolved
to assert itself
one way or another, no reasoning
with morality
for exploiting vulnerability in any shape
of form, so long
as left alive to tell the tale, the world agog
at its being top dog

Ah, but few top dogs succeed
without help from allies in thought, deed
and end-game;
the latter achieved, among its spoils,
those same allies, eager
for a place in archives of human history,
found blighting as many
landscapes of so-called 'peace for evermore'
as battlefields of war

Who seeks to know where angels fear to go,
needs but follow the trail of a human ego 

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My World

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

"I am in blood/Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more,/ Returning would be a tedious as go o'er." - thus speaks Macbeth in Shakespeare's play.

"Confessions may be good for the soul, but they are bad for reputations." - Thomas Dewar

Now, an old friend once confided that he wished he had lived his life differently, done certain things differently, made fewer mistakes. He then gave a long sigh and said, "We are who we are, I guess, and who can we blame for that but ourselves? Others play their part, no doubt about that, but at the end of the day..." I have to say I empathised completely.

Much as I deplore Vladimir Putin's intentions against Ukraine, I cannot help but wonder whether or not he, too, empathises with Macbeth?  To some extent or another, I suspect many, if not most, of us can?

As my English teacher pointed out at the time my class was studying the play, we all make many a mistake where even apologising and trying to make amends means precious little, in real terms, to those on the receiving end. 

Whether 'stepped in blood so far...' or no, it's not so much vanity that often prevents us from attempting a retreat, as fear of experiencing physical and/ or emotional consequences not dissimilar to whose we have inflicted.

As my mother would say, nothing ventured, nothing gained...except consequences.

MY WORLD

I had left without going anywhere,
done damage without lifting a finger,
enough to have said things
I could not, would not ever take back
for lack of moral courage
in me, refusing, time and again to confess
that of the you-me-us
to whom I have always aspired, the ‘me’
 is but a fantasy

I was never the person I believed in,
whom others took for someone born to be
a loser in the greater scheme
of humanity, letting them down by putting
a false smile on my face,
for making out all’s well in a world waking
to nightmares. day after day,
small comfort in sweet dreams every night
of getting it right

Too late to go back, set out again,
driven by broader, kinder, fairer objectives
towards those with whom
I cannot agree to differ without losing face,
not an option for the likes
of such as I, raised to believe it’s better to go
on the attack than wait
for the long arm of diplomacy to reach out
too late...

Precious little peace in a world so mindful of me,
my own worst enemy

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

A Survivor

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

“Thinking is the talking of the soul with itself.” – Plato

"Life is a tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think." - Moliere

If I had no sense of humour, I would long ago have committed suicide." - Mahatma Gandhi

Referring to Volodmvr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, I overheard someone in the next shopping aisle to where I was standing in my local supermarket comment t that it was incredible to think he was once a professional actor-comedian. I could not see the lady to whom he was speaking, but had to nod and smile for hearing her refer him to the quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

Indeed, Zelensky has impressed much of the world even more than Putin has 0ffended it. Out thoughts and prayers are with those young fighters on both sides; Ukranians defending their country and freedom and Russians led to believe the lies Putin has spread through Russian media sources over which he appears to have supreme control. 

This morning, news is breaking here that the Russians have been shelling the north-eastern city of Energodar and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's biggest; so far, so good, though, as there have been no reports of any nuclear leakage... yet.

A SURVIVOR

I hurt, I bleed, I need
to understand how such forces
crept up on me, pounced
on me, threatening to denounce
my very identity, kill me
if necessary, as I might as well be anyway
if I’m to be cast adrift
from all that I hold dear, family friends, no less
haunted forever by a shared distress

In my every heartbeat,
a feeling for revenge, so-called righter
of wrongs if little or no
real consolation to be had there,
nor even in every tear
that falls, every clenched punched into the air
as I rave and swear against
a torturous Here-and-Now, yet need to get a grip,
turn angry mind-body-spirit kinder side up

Memory will not let me
forget all that has conspired to reduce
mind-body-spirit
to all but a shell of what nature intended
for its human kin,
but there you have it, where the keyword is spirit,
rising above such dastardly
forces as would see me snap in the eyes of the world,
yet to personal space and history, the last word

Prime defence against the worst life and world can let fall,
I am the beleaguered heart of a compassionate soul

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again from London UK

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

Hello again from London UK,

Sorry, no poem today as I am nursing the effects of having proven allergic to new medication. A GP assures me they will not last long, so, hopefully, a new unfinished poem will be completed soon. 

I sincerely hope, dear readers, that you are keeping safe and well, notwithstanding the stress of still having to live with the coronavirus, despite its appearing to recede. Many of us are stressed out, too, of course, by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, now in its 7th day. 

To see a European country become a war zone in 2022 is truly shocking. Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will not be easily forgiven by the rest of the world for his actions. One can understand his nervousness over Ukraine's ambition to be part of NATO, but there can be no excuse whatever for declaring war on a free country, especially without active provocation. History, without a doubt, will not judge Putin kindly.

It is inspirational to see neighbouring countries rallying to offer Ukraine what support they can; various  border checkpoints report a huge influx of refugees, many of whom have been walking and/ or queuing for many hours in bitterly cold conditions; the majority of these are woman and children, their menfolk over the age of 18 years prevented from leaving and expected to stay and fight. At border crossings, food, clothing, blankets and medical assistance is on hand ; many locals are offering to drive refugees for free to wherever they want to go in order to stay with relatives  while others are offering shelter in their own homes.

The physical and mental suffering of these refugees is unimaginable to the vast majority of us who have no experience of war in the 21st century. 

For my own part, I am experiencing pangs of guilt just for feeling poorly in the warmth and safety of my home here in the Kentish Town area of London UK. Never one too cry over spilt milk, I can but press on, but the mind boggles at the prospect of  of those refugees, many with no available transport, having to press on in freezing conditions, fleeing home and country, loved-ones too, while watching out for their children and  having to carry what little they have managed to save of their personal belongings for l-o-ng, weary mile after l-o-ng weary mile...

Meanwhile, those remaining in Ukraine find themselves mostly sheltering underground while the sounds of war launch a cruel assault on mind-body-spirits everywhere; most menfolk, as often as not, either actively engaging with Russian troops or keeping a sharp look-out for them, grabbing what little rest they can. 

In years to come, I daresay there will be a movie about it that will keep audiences enthralled, win awards and make a lot of money... while no movie can possibly convey the tortuous Here-and-Now in Ukraine for everyone involved.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world looks on and can but hope Putin will not attempt to pursue his territorial ambitions further afield if and when his forces finally take control of Ukraine...

Take care, dear readers, stay safe and, once gain, many thanks for joining me; it is a huge support to me, especially as I live alone and have to contend with prostate cancer and other health issues, not to mention growing old...😉 We can but nurture a positive -thinking mindset and - in spite of living in a mad,  mad, MAD world - keep looking on the bright(er) side of life, come hell or high water...

Back soon with a poem, hopefully tomorrow,

Hugs,

Roger

Where the Heart Is...

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

"Battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won.” Walt Whitman

"In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, only losers." – Neville Chamberlain

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." – Martin Luther King Jr.

As an embattled Ukraine fights on and tens of thousands seek safe haven in neighbouring countries, so the rest of the world pat themselves on the back for supporting Ukraine in every way but meaningful enough to make Putin’s troops withdraw. Supplying arms, sanctuary and applying sanctions are welcome moves, but it is not difficult to imagine the agony of those in Ukraine fighting for their own and their country’s very survival.

Inspirational resistance by Ukraine notwithstanding, it is looking increasingly inevitable that Russian forces will eventually take control. One cannot help but wonder what or who will be next in Putin’s sights? He would not, after all, be the first person - world leader or otherwise - to let one success go to his head...

Meanwhile, as a friend recently commented, we should never underestimate either ourselves or human nature  in general, there being no such thing the 'ordinary' man and woman in the street. We are all of us, each in his and her own way, capable of the most extraordinary acts, not least by taking on various  life forces threatening us; winners all, whether or not we are perceived as losers.

WHERE THE HEART IS...

North, South, East West,
I am that place where I feel safest,
for being able to talk
laugh, engage with loved ones,
friends and good neighbours,
shut out dire thoughts
of being anywhere else but here,
where I can dream in peace of sunnier tomorrows
sure to greet you-me-us

Few dreamers dare to go
where roads ahead grow dark and long,
love needing an outlet,
for such prejudices and hate that invade
my life and personal space
without my consent, yet unable to prevent
their presence in me,
supposedly a passing distraction, even as homing in
on potential self-destruction

Yet, beneath appearances
inviting such comments as ‘but ordinary’
dwell an extraordinary
treasure of life forces, such as bravery
in the face of hard times,
love and compassion able to take a lead,
despite all but surrounded
by conditions even angels may well be wary of treading
for dread of human suffering

Call me’ Home’ wherever I be,
mind-body-spirit in like company, no ordinary
force for living,
but giving as well as taking, fighting its enemies,
defending its rights,
yet unity and friendship always in its sights
no matter such ways of a world
where division is almost second nature where Finance rules,
mistaking ‘ordinary’ folks for fools

They are the fools, though, devils
invading human anxiety, divining their flaws
for strengths by such vanity
as sometimes possesses powers that be, crossing
red lines, the length and breadth
of all walks of humanity,
making out it is in potentially in their interests
while pursuing their own, ever preening themselves in mirrors,
feeding media sources but half-truths

I, though, have its measure, the human heart with such love in it
that alien forces can neither win over nor defeat

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

Hello again from London UK

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

"I know not with what weapons World War 111 will be fought, but World War 1V will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

Hello again everyone, from London UK

A reader, G M, has emailed to complain about yesterday's poem which drew particular attention to the fears of LGBT folks in Ukraine should Putin's armed forces take control. Sorry, no apologies for that.. I am a gay man, after all.

Apologies, though, for having no poem to offer today as I am very unwell with a bad cold; colds seem to last so much longer and be so much worse  now I am in my late 70's. Even so, I am working on one that I hope to post here sometime this week.

It has been a stressful weekend for everyone. It is bad enough that the world is not yet free of the coronavirus, but events unfolding in Ukraine have been very distressing to watch on various media, especially for those with family and friends there.  

It is all very well for Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister, to dismiss Putin's putting Russia's nuclear forces on high alert, but many if not most of us are deeply concerned; accidents will happen, after all...  My late grandfather served in WW1 and my father served in WW2; they rarely spoke of their experiences, but when they did, we young ones were shocked, to say the least.

I don't think even Putin would be stupid enough to deliberately unleash any nuclear capability on Ukraine, but can understand  anyone, especially WW2 veterans, waiting with baited breath for better news on that front. Let's hope Putin is familiar with the above quote attributed to Albert Einstein. 😉

Meanwhile, here and around the world, inflation is starting to bite, likely to worsen as sanctions against Russia increase their grip.; sanctions of any kind, against whomsoever for whatever reasons are never a one-way street.😒

No political animal here, so I have no more idea what to expect from the Russian invasion of Ukraine than anyone else. I can only repeat that I have always found any rising stress somewhat alleviated by a recalling a common saying to which my mother would always refer in a  crisis: 'If you worry, you'll die and if you don't worry, you'll die one day anyway, so... why worry?" Easier said than done, of course, but anything that helps relieve stress, has to be a good thing; we can be of little help or comfort to each other if we are stressed out to our limits.

Sorry, I need to rest now as I have a splitting headache from looking at and typing to a computer screen.

Take care everyone, stay safe and may all those folks in Ukraine at least take heart from knowing that the world is rooting for you; in Russia, too, where many people are opposed to the war against Ukraine, not least because they, too, have family and friends there.

Bye for now, back soon,

Hugs,

Roger

Under Threat

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

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind. – John Milton

It is not uncommon for fear to, indeed, make cowards of us all even if only temporarily. The courage of those remaining to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression is perhaps all the more remarkable then for its steadfastness.

As greater a tragedy is that the majority of ordinary Russian people, the likes of you and me, do not support Putin, but are given no choice and/ or fed misinformation.

As my late mother would probably have said say to any of us, but especially the likes of Vladimir Putin, - Sooner or later, comeuppance always comes to whom comeuppance is due.

UNDER THREAT

Whenever I feel threatened
by someone or events likely to catch up
with me sooner or later,
I choose to either run away or bury my head
in the sand, pretend
it’s nothing more or less than a bad dream,
of little or no consequence
so long as I keep my nerve, play deaf-blind-dumb
whatever the eventual outcome

Even so, I can’t deny I’m likely
to make an enemy of mind-body-spirit
by having it play hide-and-seek
with truth and home truths if only for as long
as it takes for any storm
to blow over, no harm to me for having run
for cover from the start,
if underestimating the power of human conscience
to create a copycat turbulence

No worse a storm than one soaking
a stalwart heart in a raging tempest of guilt,
tempted to run helter-skelter
for shelter and home comforts likely to assuage
such feelings as stirring
mind-body-spirit, threatening to divide
its all-in-one, daring me
me to dive in, risk whatever to save personal space
a sickening freefall from grace

Who dares plays hide-and-seek with me, Conscience,
seals their own comeuppance...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022

 

 

From rhetoric to...what, Exactly?

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

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary nor how justified, is not a crime." – Ernest Hemingway

: "War does not determine who is right, only who is left." - Winston Churchill

As ordered by President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine is now under full-scale attack by Russian forces..

While the hearts of those of us fortunate enough be living in a relatively free society reach out to the ordinary man and women on both sides of the escalating conflict, we can but wait with baited breath for the final outcome, and how it will affect the rest of the world.

Many of us are wondering just how far they will go, those world leaders who have voiced support for Ukraine and condemned Putin; in terms of military support, for example, as opposed to fine rhetoric...?

Potentially, we are looking a third world war in the face. Let us hope not, for the implications of that in the 21^st Century are unthinkable. Hopefully, even Vladimir Putin has more common sense than to envisage taking on the entire Western Alliance? Or does he know something, we don’t...?

Meanwhile, we can but do our best to nurture a positive-thinking mindset and trust that sanity, if not peace, will prevail in our time among its powers that be...

FROM RHETORIC TO.... WHAT, EXACTLY?

I tell people what they want to hear,
take a lead, as powers that be are expected to do,
whether or not election speeches
are full of half-truths meant to muster support
or I simply impose an impression
that any collective mind-body-spirit dare not resist,
such persuasive powers of rhetoric
and gesture as incite following me to the ends of the earth,
no matter injury or death

I urge people to take such pride in me
and in themselves that reservations are swept aside
by a rising tide of reassurance
that God is on the side of Human Rights, has us
in His sights, will bring the world
to see our point of view, make heroes of you-me-us;
whatever history may make of it all,
we will yet justify our actions on a universal scale, reconcile
with its very heart and soul

Ah, but there are flaws in every argument,
to be discerned and expressed by word and/or deed,
or simply ignored by any who much prefer
to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to potential risks
involved regarding family and friends,
nor any less to the mind-body-spirit we claim our own,
in denial of the fact that none of us
stands alone and what affects one affects all, one way or another,
can but redefine our future

Whatever, at least credit me with boosting
a flagging economy, given the manufacture and sales
or various weaponry soaring, anxious
as I am to be seen scoring points over any adversary
daring to take issue with me, expose
such powers that be taking my side and promoting
my intentions, no hint of self-interest,
only desires enough to stoke the fires of Hell until an end in sight,
victory or shameless defeat

I am much the same war cry as preying on humanity’s worst fears
for home and country... across centuries 

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Encounter with a Whale

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

“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."- Mahatma Gandhi

"If you could make little fishes talk, they would talk like whales." - Oliver Goldsmith

 “The whales do not sing because they have an answer, they sing because they have a song.” – Gregory Colbert

Years ago, I tripped over a beer can left on a flight of steps. I was left bruised but not too badly hurt. It was something of a crisis at the time, though, as I had to miss a job interview t by needing to get checked over at the local hospital.

Being of a philosophical disposition, I reminded myself that accidents will happen and there was no point in crying over spilt milk... until I heard the sound of giggling and looked to see several older children, who promptly ran off...

These things happen, of course, all the time; some, though, less by accident than design.

Meanwhile, on the world stage, the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens. as Russia invades...

ENCOUNTER WITH A WHALE

Stumbled on a beer can
thoughtlessly discarded in the street,
lost my footing...
went flying, landed on my back
in The Abyss
of my worst nightmares for years,
unable to move,
waves of silence rushing at me as they might
a dying whale’s dreams

Tears staining my cheeks,
unable even to cry for help, no hope
of rescue, my life
done and dusted, much like an urn
in full view, now covered
over for having killed many a cosy chat
about this ‘n’ that,
death but something no one likes to think about
for tempting fate

Ah, but the waves, alerted
to my tears by some natural empathy,
are urging me now
to get back into the swim of life
before it’s too late,
take whatever way out of the whale
before harpooned for meat
and body parts to help succour and save humanity,
excuse its barbarity

Whale heaves, spewing me
into a vast ocean of mixed feelings,
sick of an alien body
denying it rest, distracting its powers
of navigation,
conspiring against any natural instinct
for self-preservation,
mine-body-spirit trusted to continue on it way, if only
to die another day

From a scary premature night
to an even scarier light of day, urged
by politic voices
in nature and human nature as mean us
to rise above such flaws
forever pitting one against the other
by joining forces,
if only to sow a sense of forward-looking as on waking
in a place of healing

Now, is it a whale I hear singing deceptively sweetly
or the politic voice of diplomacy...?

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022