The ever-present past

A moth once setttled, plump and brown, upon my coat
As drizzle in a garden fell so many years ago.
And when, as boy, I chanced to glance and saw her on my chest
Her silent presence brought strange fright that had not touched me as
Her dampened wings were folded when she fluttered down to rest.

Too hastily I brushed her off and saw, as she took flight,
What beauty I had banished by an unconsidered act.
Too soon she vanished midst the ranks of raspberry bushes thick.
Too late and vainly did I seek to catch a moment gone.
How silent was the air around while weightless droplets fell
Upon the dripping leaves through which the ripening berries peeped.

Why does this timeless memory stay with me to this day?
Why will it without doubt retain its  charm and potency? 

What goes around...

The subtle play of light upon a fading garden wall,
The smell of fallen apples lying damp among the grass:
All this has been, is now, and will recur for evermore -
The new perfoms its role as repetition of the old.

The apple and the tree are one as evolution rolls,
No tree without the apple, and no apple without tree:
Stability of change allows succession in its turn,
While novel patterns flicker fleet across a garden wall.

The sea, the boat, adventure call

A far marina sparkles in the Sun,
An absent skipper hastens there to sail,
"Wereda's" patience soon will reap reward
And Trinidad rejoice to see once more
Her stately presence on the Carib Main.

Long months of separation near their end,
The sailor's soul now harkens to the sea,
Whose Siren call as ever draws him off,
Away from happy home, to joy on board.

So does the bond that cannot be undone
Require to be renewed, its strength made good,
Until it can allow love's haven leave
To host the next reunion of true hearts.

Sail away

I

A talented sailor from Houston
Attempted to sail with his boots on.
They filled up with sea
As far as his knee
And sank that poor sailor from Houston.

II

A talented sailor from Houston
Declined to set sail with his boots on.
He found his approach
No storm could encroach,
Which won him renown throughout Houston.