A Hymn To Nature

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

Like most poets, I am inspired by nature, not least perhaps for the ways in which it mirrors human behaviour…now benign and beautiful, now almost the opposite although always beautiful, even in a rage.

By its very history, humanity, it has to be said, has demonstrated a feeling for nature’s capacity for regeneration and survival. Nature, on the other hand, does not make war on its own kind. Nor does it discriminate among its own in the way many humans do. I dare say gay men and women are closer to nature in the latter respect than most…so who’s to say we are ‘unnatural’ in the way we conduct ourselves?

As for sexuality, all the world religions appear reach some agreement in various beliefs that make God responsible for the creation of all human beings. (What happens next is down to us). Christians, for example, are always telling us that God made us in His own image.

Me, I don’t like the image of God various religions like to convey, invariably made in their own image. On the other hand, I can easily reconcile a strong sense of spirituality to what I see in the natural world.

[Update 8/14: I have just recorded this poem along with another for my You Tube channel to accompany a video of Stourhead (National Trust Gardens); it is the third and last of three Stourhead videos. You can access my channel at: http://www.youtube.com/rogerNtaber ]

A HYMN TO NATURE

On the left hand of spring,

pause among dog roses,

where choral voices bring

its bitter-sweet centuries

In summer, listen yet again

to the same wistful plea

of an ancient congregation

keeping faith with history

Inspiring, autumnal places,

stoic trees weeping

for the tears on human faces

where winter creeping

Resuming, come December,

its place in nature’s womb,

eternal echo, a sure reminder

of where we came from

Copyright R. N. Taber 2009