Sabre (aka Sabreman Carter) has selected his poem “As We Dance Together” for our December 2021 feature poem. This is the second in our series of Five Questions to a Poet. Sabre’s poem follows the five questions below.
(We gratefully acknowledge the work of SL Artist Mistero Hifeng for the subject matter of the feature photo above).
What, or who, first motivated you to write poetry?
It’s complicated – the poem I was asked to write was not the first poem I had ever written. The Fleeting Moments, my third poem, was to help me get over the loss of my late mother. She died in 1997; her name was Alice Watkins. The person who asked me to write was called Pauline Hanson. She was an elderly Australian woman, who I met through her Radio Ham husband, who was called Alf Hanson, VK4OL. I was a class B Ham Radio operator in the UK, but because I had never written a poem before 1997. I wrote two poems just to prove to myself (before I wrote the one for my mum), that I was able to write poetry.
What was your first piece about?
The first poem I ever wrote was called A Poem for a Friend which was about a young woman I used to work with.
What, or who, is your primary muse today?
I no longer have a muse as such, I Just write about things that take my fancy.
Who is your favorite poet and your favorite poem?
I came across a verse in my youth it was a parody.
“The boy stood on the burning deck,
His legs where all aquiver,
He gave a cough, his leg flew off,
and floated down the river.”
The nearest poem I ever came across to that was called Casablanca, by Felicia Dorothea Hemans – 1793 to 1835.
When is a poem done?
When you hear it read, and there are no errors or missing words. A spell-checker only sees misspelled words – it won’t pick up words that are in the wrong place. For that I use a voice reader that can play back my words until I am happy with what I have written. I can write a good poem in about 4 hours, but a bad poem takes longer, and sometimes no amount of editing will help a bad poem.
As We Dance Together
Dance everyday, with those you love
One day the chance to dance may be too late
So never turn your love away,
But dance forever and a day.
One day you’ll know, and you will see,
This angel dancing close to me.
Is in my heart for all to know
And I will never let her go.
A short step here, a long one there,
A pirouette, a golden prayer,
A twirl from me, then you will stare,
At the gracious lovers over there.
This day of grace, you’ll see her face
As she dances closer, just for me.
My angel with the human face,
Will make you stop, and make you stare.
As we dance together, like some golden prayer,
Whenever you see her there.
And when you see her, you will know,
That she will never let me go.
Sabreman Carter – copyright Jan 10 2009