Memoirs In Verse

Listen to: A Sonnet for Halley's Comet The passing of a distant ship is brief, A moment's glint of light upon the sea, Perhaps all I learn of her plodding course, Yet you keep lofty station close by me. Your growing splendour heralds your return, With rich displays of pure astronomy. As landsmen slumber idle in their beds, What wealth and beauty you reveal to me. While I behold your passage bright and clear, For weeks upon this ocean's starlit way, And though past perihelion you will fade, Pray, keep me company until that day. For blessed is this mariner and poet, To sail with the vagrant Halley's Comet—the Harbinger of Change.

This poem is dedicated to my wife, Anne. It is written in iambic pentameter to give the poem a contemplative tone. ‘Beyond my reach’ refers to the sun passing below the horizon. The words ‘I choose my guides’ refers to my choosing the stars to ‘shoot’, to obtain a position using a navigator’s sextant.  Listen to: Dusk at Sea The sun descends beyond my reach and yields, To leave the cooling ashes of the day. The most sublime of hues are now revealed— A worthy scene for some aspiring Manet. I stand my lonely watch beneath that sky, Across that calm and tranquil sea we plough, With none to witness our sailing by, Save distant, spectral, lateen-rigged dhows. The twilight lifts her sheer, translucent veil, And shows my constant, faithful friends to me; And from among that host, I choose my guides— Oh, blessed stars, guide me west across the sea. The full moon bathes the ship in silver light, And I reflect upon my passing day, Among those fleeting shadows of the night, My longing thoughts of