Dreaming Suburbs

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

Suburbs have a reputation for being drab, dull, and boring; they have neither the countryside’s natural beauty nor the excitement of a large town or city.

Ah, but as with most things in life, even suburbia is as we choose to make it.

Besides one person’s nightmare is another person’s dream just as one person’s concrete jungle is someone else’s home...

DREAMING SUBURBS

Daylight fading at the window, thrushes

singing at will;

thoughts turn the mind slowly

like sails of a windmill;

twilight dips a darker hue

(one thrush soars, another stays

to sling its shadow among

the best geraniums);

melody fading, a flickering of feathers

at the sill...

Though darkness drop its shutters

on all the world’s sleepers,

candles lit for a Quixote surely will

guide a thrush to its nest,

let weary heads rest, having

done their best? (As for dreams,

finders keepers)

Gone now, sweet songbird;

nothing’s heard but sails in the wind

teasing humankind

Copyright R. N. Taber 2000

[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in 1st eds. of Love And Human Remains, 2001.]

Every Street has Something to Say

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

Now, a street is far more than a place where people live, more even than those people themselves.

A street is part of history, stretching back through time and forward into the future.

For now and always, we are a part of all that...

It used to be a GOOD feeling if perhaps less so in recent years. (Well, that's the nature of change for you, rarely for the better when it comes to the local environment.) Even so, the street where I live now and streets where I once lived hold happy memories as well as sad ones so... thank you streets for those.

EVERY STREET HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

I’ve walked along a busy street
as the sun rises, shedding its rays like tears
for all I am not

I’ve walked along a busy street
come noon, Apollo’s heat on me like a lover
offering comfort

I’ve walked along a busy street
in a gentle twilight, its lampposts like trees
bidding me sleep tight

I’ve walked along a busy street
as the sun begins to set, felt like a movie star
on a red carpet

I’ve walked along a busy street
to my own front door, proudly acknowledging
I am a part of it

[London: Kentish Town, Oct 2010]
  
Copyright R. N. Taber 2010