Listening Out for Nature

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


Observing nature is always an experience worth making time for, especially if we let it into our hearts, learn from it, find ways to harness its kinder side to body, mind and spirit, enjoy an intrinsic peace and tranquillity...

The video below concludes my friend Graham’s visit to the Cheddar Gorge along with a poem I wrote especially to accompany it; you will hear me read the poem over the video.

Some readers tell me they cannot access You Tube for one reason or another, but those that can may prefer to click on the direct link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v82obNd8N5k

For more videos/poems on my channel:

http://www.youtube.com/rogerNtaber

LISTENING OUT FOR NATURE

Birdsong in the wind
making promises it cannot keep
to every flower, tree
and blade of grass, each hair
on the head of creatures great
and small

Tears in the wind
but acid rain, humankind’s gift 
to every flower, tree
and blade of grass, each hair
on the head of creatures great
great and small

Joy, too, in the wind
same birdsong busy serenading
every flower, tree
and blade of grass, each hair
on the heads of creatures great
and small

Love songs in the wind, 
composed for every flower, tree, 
and lade of grass, each hair
on the heads of creatures great
and small to take heart, 
know it will flourish in the light
of Apollo’s smile;
ageless, the tell-tale wind, 
like our pride in every flower, tree, 
and blade of grass, each hair 
on the heads of creatures great
and small exhorting us
to answer its call to keep this world 
colourful, peaceful

Birdsong in the wind, 
let fly to reassure every flower,
tree and blade of grass,
lift the heads of creatures
great and small threatened daily
with extinction

Tears in the wind,
at the passing of each season
for every flower, tree, 
and blade of grass, each hair 
on the heads of creatures great
and small

Joy, too, in the wind,
at each springtime’s returning
to nurture every flower,
tree, blade of grass, creatures
great and small counting on nature,
nature on us
  
Copyright R. N. Taber 2012

Chain Gang OR Doing a Runner

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

I am happily, openly gay. But it wasn’t always that way. As regular readers will know, I am still haunted now and then by dark, cold, closet years when I was afraid to tell anyone. Throughout my youth and in the early years of young manhood, gay relationships were illegal here in the UK. Yet, after these were decriminalised, I was still more in that damn closet than out of it.

Part of the reason I hesitated to be openly gay was that I had such trouble shrugging off all the offensive stereotypes with which I had been burdened for years. Another reason was that I could rely on no support from family or friends for much the same reason. In many areas there are support groups available now; there is also a LOT of support available on the Internet that includes access to gay forums. [Always keep your wits about you when chatting to people on the web, though, as not everyone is as genuine as they may seem.]

Much has changed for the better since those dark days some 30+ years ago. Many of the stereotypes still exist but are countered these days by supportive (rather than just defensive) arguments, and in some parts of the world gay men and woman can turn to Equal Rights legislation.; in other parts of the world, though, there is none of this and gay people, especially young gay people, are suffering much as I did all those years ago.

It has to stop. Societies whose leaders support anti-gay legislation must be made to see sense by more enlightened societies; political pressure must be brought to bear and seen to be brought to bear.

All the blame for the continuing suffering of all LGBT people, often struggling with their sexual identity and in need of support and reassurance, does not always lie at society’s door. Support and understanding starts in the home. Even in the so-called liberal West, many gay boys and girls, men and women, are (still) living in a gay-unfriendly environment.

Wherever you look, and closer to home than you may think, various socio-cultural-religious anti-gay pressures are being brought to bear on gay people. Bad in the southern hemisphere, yes, but no better in some parts of the northern hemisphere either.

As I keep saying and will keep saying, the key to supporting gay people in home, school and workplace lies in educating, family, friends and work colleagues into just what it means to be gay; dismantle all those same stereotypes and arguments that kept me in the closet once and for all. Parents and teachers worldwide must start taking responsibility for this and societies’ less enlightened leaders must start taking responsibility for taking a lead.

Those readers who get in touch to tell me I am being a dinosaur, things have changed and gays have never had it so good should take a closer look at what is happening in Uganda and many other African countries, for example, also in Russia where gay people amongst others must be aghast at Putin’s re-election as president.

CHAIN GANG or DOING A RUNNER

Shovelling lies, bundles at a time,
though wore my hair long and sang,
making out I didn’t give a damn,
breaking my back on a chain gang

Yes, thought about breaking loose,
though rarely let it tease me for long;
couldn’t face ever having to choose
between alter ego and the chain gang

For long hours, days, weeks, years,
I slogged on, never putt a foot wrong;
no one ever saw me shed any tears
for making a career of the chain gang

I knew the politics, chapter and verse,
yet still kept singing the same old song,
ringing changes, for better for worse,
and more new faces on the chain gang

One face lingered in my mind’s eye,
wry grins sure to catch me responding,
couldn’t ignore, even though I’d try
‘cause it just ain’t done on a chain gang

Too scared to come clean and get real,
told gay love ungodly so must be wrong,
but how could I argue with a smile
that lets heaven shine on a chain gang?

We got to know each other better daily,
mindsets more than merely getting along,
office gossip machine churning madly
(for our not doing right by the  chain gang)

We did a runner one day, my love and I,
got a life, determined to do our own thing,
happier at work (even happier at play)
just two gay people getting on with living

Copyright R. N. Taber 2007

[Note: Any LGBT or LGBT-friendly readers may like to visit my other blog 'G-A-Y in the subject field'. Why do I write both ( fiction blog too)?  Well, a poem is a poem is a poem just as a person is a person is a person; there is more to all of us than out sex or sexuality.]

Home Grown

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

[Update 20/4/17: Yet again our hearts go out to the people of France after a police officer was killed and colleagues wounded in a terrorist attack on the Champs Elysees in Paris; our thoughts are with their families and friends as well as other colleagues who, of course, risk their lives every day during these dark times. On Sunday the French people will elect a new president. He or she will face a tough task ahead, not least - along with security forces worldwide - in thwarting the growth of home grown terrorism. Open borders are a wonderful sentiment, but impractical given the times in which we live; border checks are a necessary evil and anyone who cannot see that is well and truly blinkered. It would appear that prisons, too, are a breeding ground for home grown terrorism so security forces worldwide need to monitor anyone released who may be suspected of being radicalised; this is not an infringement of civil liberties, but plain common sense.]

Terrorism remains a global threat from fundamentalists and fanatics who think they are right so everyone else must be wrong. Tragically, their message is one of warped idealism, but idealism all the same to which young people especially are vulnerable; few have sufficient experience of life to appreciate that there are more subtle (f no less effective) ways to help initiate change for the better in what, after all, is a much flawed world for all its focus on progress.

Most if not all of us, too, have our own private terrors within our own personal space; many of these are spirited away into the rose coloured mists of time by kinder forces to which we become more sensitive we grow up, but ... rarely if ever completely.

Before we can hope to defeat global terrorists perhaps we (and they) need to address and rise above our own private terrors?

HOME GROWN

A cry in the night, could be

human or beast,

sneaking past the Old Man

like a snake

A stalking star, fallen upon

its victim?

Feet dead, thought paralysed

by indecision...

Someone badly needs help,

but in what direction?

Probably a cat, trapped in that 

dark alley’s jaws

Quiet. Blood rediscovering its

everyday route...

Mind functioning sufficiently

to agree inaction

Body heading for home, as if

never disturbed

A cry in the night, marking us

for human or beast;

heart beating madly, madness

everywhere

Of global terrors, none greater

than home grown

[From: Accomplices to Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007]

Note: The original cover design for this collection is by my dear friend Graham Collett who has designed  covers for (many) other books besides mine in the course of his full-time job as a graphic designer. He also finds time to shoot the videos for my You Tube channel:  

http://www.youtube.com/rogerNtaber. 

I am fortunate indeed to call him my best friend. 

Adrenaline Rush

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

Nothing provides a rush of adrenaline quite like love...

ADRENALINE RUSH

Words of love tumble like Niagara

from heavenly heights, a thunderous roar

of metaphor, simile, rhythm and rhyme,

a wondrous sight, vision to behold…

only to be carried along some eternal river

of the soul about which tales are told

but no one ever goes for fear the unknown

prove too much, poetry alone no match

for a frantic tide of mixed emotion, devotion

to themes of love, desire, need, drawing

crocodiles to feed, swallow us whole who dare

take a chance on our dreams; instead, we act

the sightseeing tourist snapping for the album,

keeping a diary of nature’s unsubtle cut

and thrust, mocking the foibles of humanity

with such sheer profanity that we hear old gods

laugh, call out names (meant to provoke us

to take action?) as we but watch in awe, give

Imagination its due, soaked in the spray

of an elixir of youth, testament to the truth

of our inhibitions if we but care to admit,

rise above, meet the death defying challenges

of life and (most of all) love’s finer glory,

the, oh, but never ending story of a waterfall
bringing our senses into full play

Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2010

[Note:This poem has been slightly revised since it last appeared on the blog under the title 'Adrenaline' and in A Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005.]

Masterpiece

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

Say what you like, even art at its greatest will only ever be a poor copy of the original  masterpiece that is nature.

Ah, but it is what the artist puts into his or her creation that matters, and what we get out of it. Put the inner eye to work and you may well be surprised at the results; that goes for nature and art of course. Some people look at clouds and all they see is...clouds. Others may admire Van Gogh’s sunflowers and all they see is...sunflowers. It takes the inner eye to encourage us to turn what we see into a felt experience that, in turn, brings any creation into a whole new focus.

MASTERPIECE

Streaks of gold on a sheet
of charcoal grey;
patches of green glistening
like wet paint

Bear-like figures emerging
from hibernation;
birds calling our landscape
into question

Children unafraid of giants
resembling trees;
reflections in an artist’s eye
on post-storminess

A joy, seeing Earth Mother
at work and play;
a privilege, feeling her brush
stroking us in

Masterpiece, left unfinished
to challenge critics
on imagination, watch them
arguing the signature

Copyright R. N. Taber 2012

[From: Tracking the Torchbearer by R, N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2012]

Enjoy!

The Greatest Show On Earth

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

I love it when people ask me to repeat a villanelle; regular readers will know I have a passion for them. I have written some 200+ over the years. Today’s villanelle last appeared on the blog in 2010 and is especially for ‘Damon and Louise’ who are getting married shortly and plan to spend their honeymoon on a walking tour of the Lake District. They say they are looking forward to ‘beautiful scenery by day and intimate at night.’ Well, enjoy, and congratulations to you both.

Interestingly, it appears that Louise has a gay brother who is also Damon’s best friend. Nice one, folks!

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

Earth Mother, a faith in us will show,

each and every one of us;

eternal confidant, always in the know

If ever we’re driven to an all-time low,

no one answering our cries,

Earthy Mother, a faith in us will show

Starry heavens come, starry heavens go

for each and every one of us;

eternal confidante, always in the know

Should we be losers at love’s last throw

of its ages-old, universal dice,

Earth Mother, a faith in us will show,

Seek Apollo where darkness binds us so

(will always find time for us);

eternal confidante, always in the know

Where a bigot’s rant rings loud if hollow

and universal truths give way to lies,

Earth Mother, a faith in us will show;

eternal confidante, always in the know

Copyright R. N. Taber 2010

A Phoenix In Soho

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

Today’s post is in remembrance of all those who died at the hands of a very disturbed person in London UK during the spring of 1999.

On April 30th 1999 a loner with a hatred for all gay and non-white people planted a bomb in The Admiral Duncan pub, in Soho just after 1830 hours. The bar was packed with drinkers during a Bank Holiday weekend. The pub is in Old Compton Street in what has been the heart of London’s gay community for many years. The bomber had already made similar attacks in areas of the city frequented by ethnic minority communities.

Soho's gay community has always welcomed anyone and everyone. Among the dead from The Admiral Duncan blast, were a woman only recently married and the best man at her wedding; her husband was among those who survived with horrific injuries.

There is a tragic postscript to the bombing. David Morley, a barman at The Admiral Duncan when the bomb exploded, died after a vicious homophobic attack on London’s South Bank in the early hours of Saturday morning, October 31^st 2004. He was only 37 years-old. Morley had helped many people victims of the bomb that killed three people, and injured 73. Although he escaped with minor injuries, he suffered serious trauma for years afterwards.

London is often considered a safe haven for gay people, and I dare say it is safer than many places. But let’s be clear. Homophobia and racism are alive and kicking just about everywhere; the flames of hate crime are constantly being fanned by various socio0cultural-religious elements around the world. It has to stop, and the first place of call has to be schools everywhere – including if not especially faith schools – where teachers who genuinely care that their students should become responsible adults need to raise their voices and be heard without fear of reprisal from bigoted parents, Head teachers or  school governors and the like.

Over the years, many people have fallen foul of homophobia, racism, sexism and assaults on their religious beliefs (or non-belief, as the case may be). We must do our best to stamp out these prejudices once and for all. At the same time, we should always remember that prejudice works both ways and should not be tolerated by or from anyone, regardless of colour, creed, sexuality or gender. It frequently strikes me that many people nowadays are far too quick to play various socio-cultural-religious cards in a society where ‘political correctness’ is doing precious little to encourage integration or mutual respect among its members.

A PHOENIX IN SOHO

Ordinary people passing by,

having fun in bars, folks
like you and me, no aliens from Mars
come to threaten the planet;
some sipping coffee at a roadside café,
enjoying a chat, warm spring
sunshine on the face, trails of laughter
like wedding lace...

Suddenly, the sky turns black!

Smell and roar ofa devil on the back
as heavens look away in despair
and ordinary people learn
the true meaning of fear;
death and destruction everywhere,
wedding lace in tatters,
ordinary people, discovering
what matters and playing their part
straight from the heart...

Smoke clears, sun reappears,
world keeps turning;
finger of blame points, charges,
moves on...

Ordinary people, rising above tragedy
or the Devil win - pray we never
see the like again;
Small comfort for those left to writhe
in the throes of loss and pain
but hope for us all - as we learn
to live and love again, no matter
the colour of our skin or
creed we live by or our sexuality

Amazingly, yesterday, a complete
stranger said ‘hello’ over a cappuccino
in Soho; and there was wedding lace
in the street, ordinary people rising
above their tears and fears, bringing
hope and love for years to come...
Or what chance for peace, we children
of the millennium?

Copyright R. N. Taber 1999; 2012

[Note: This poem has been very slightly revised from an earlier version that appears in 1^st eds. of  Love And Human Remains by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2001; revised ed. in e-format in preparation.]