http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
Some of
my poems appear on both blogs, but rarely at the same time. Why, though, some
readers ask, do I post poems that have no particular relevance for gay people
on my gay-interest blog just as I post poems on a gay theme on my general blog? Well, regular
readers will know that, in my book, a poem is a poem and anyone with a feeling
for poetry will not be prejudiced against one whatever subject it may
take for a theme. Besides, as well as intended to give pleasure, it is not
unheard of for poet and poem to offer food for thought...
I am not
so much a gay poet as a poet who also happens to be gay. Like many poets, I
have a passion for life, love, peace and nature that frequently makes itself
felt in my poems, but I am also concerned with societies world-wide and where
they are found wanting. Gay people are a part of those societies. Who am I to
ignore gay issues and what it means to a gay person to be gay in what is often
a gay-unfriendly environment even these days? As a gay man, I feel I have
something to offer poetry in this context while it is up to the reader to judge
whether poem or poet rise to the occasion.
My poem, Shadows in a Mist, is as much about
having faith in ourselves as anything else. That applies to all of us, regardless of sex, ethnicity,
creed or sexuality…surely? Anyone who nurses grudges or prejudices against anyone who doesn't share their own little customised 'box' in society needs to look to their conscience (if they have one) or better still. broaden their horizons and look beyond another person's ethnicity, sexuality or religion...
SHADOWS
IN A MIST
Silver
shadows all around me
keep pace
with my dreams,
are there
only to remind me
(if life
as bad as it seems)
shades of
love will surround me,
won’t
fall apart at the seams
or let
this dull ache in my body
swell,
explode me into pieces,
food for
the world’s prejudices
Silver
shadows all around me
will
always dry my tears,
are there
only to remind me
(its
heart beating my fears)
shades of
love will surround me,
and save
me from despair,
show me
an inner spirituality,
championing
a happiness,
greater
than any temporal ties
Silver
shadows all around me
speaking
with one voice,
are there
only to remind me
(fighting
my enemy, choice)
shades of
love will surround me,
see me
right by compassion,
replacing
rock and hard place
with the
wisdom of centuries
defying
the world’s prejudices
Silver
shadows, but inspiring us
to keep
faith with ourselves
From: On the Battlefields of Love by R. N.
Taber, Assembly Books, 2010]