Gravitational waves Feb 17, 2016

Light-years far removed from Earth, two black holes
Performed a cosmic jig in which they merged,
And from the cataclysm there emerged
Sound evidence of gravitational waves,
Which are regarded by the well-schooled mind
As vital for the truth of Einstein's thought,
Being one more stone in that great edifice,
Grand monument of intellect and heart.

Love's cardinal points Version 2 12 Feb 2016

The North of love is where your bosom swells,
The East - where you awake to morning's rays,
The South - where in your smile enchantment dwells,
The West - where with my own I hold your gaze
As each heart sets the other in a daze.

Identity Feb 01, 2016

Essential to the sense of self
Are memories that hold the past,
Bringing coherence to that self,
Lending the strength required to last,
Keeping together as a whole
The vital sinews of the soul.

Love's cardinal points Jan 16 - Feb 7, 2016

The North of love is where your bosom swells,
The East - where you awake to morning's rays,
The South - where in your smile enchantment dwells,
The West - where with my own I hold your gaze;
We have no need of words when hearts amaze.

Recovery of love 16-23 Jan 2016

The ardour, so it seemed, had flagged, grown cold,
And love been smothered by the pangs of guilt
Until, once again, there came that flame of old
Which had been kindled when the fire was built.
Is it that every passion grows then wanes?
Why so? Why - from the nature of the heart,
Which must consolidate the wealth it gains,
Deny the latter any chance to part.
So in the classic game of give and take,
Whose rules, unwritten, yet are eloquent,
The prudent player aims to place their stake
Where love and luck each other complement.
It isn't that I love you any less,
But that I doubt to be so deeply blessed.

Three cuddly cubs who, learning, teach Christmas, 2015

Dedication at Christmas for a picture book of three orphan grizzlies
in volcanic Kamchatka, Russia

Three cubs for Ellie to admire,
Three bred in snow and mountain fire,
Three orphans tasked with life's concerns,
Who show just how the wild heart learns
With help from human fosterers
Enthralled by such cute customers,

Liv joins the fray Late Dec, 2015

Now lovely, lively little Liv
Is adding zest to how we live.
Her contributions every day
Include the pleasure of her play,
The sparkle of her infant eyes,
Her way to find the urgent prize
Of Mummy's breast or Dad's embrace
So she can keep up in life's race
And take fate in her growing hands
On solid ground, not shifting sands.

Nonsense is as nonsense does Dec 15, 2015

Dedication in a book of nonsense by Edward Lear

They talk a lot of nonsense about nonsense -
They say it's just a waste of time, they do!
But what I think is that it isn't nonsense
That sometimes nonsense turns out to be true!

So, Ellie, here's some nonsense to amuse,
In which you'll find there's plenty to enthuse,
And as you laugh you'll marvel at the craft
Of making fun of things by being daft!

Companionship Dec 14, 2015

When lives are with each other twined
They leave their print on heart and mind.
Soul turns to soul alike in kind,
Forever seeking mate to find,
And as the years their pathways wind
Fondness engenders ties that bind.

Soup from the heart Early Dec 2015

On a spinach soup made and brought along by a dear friend

Proud soup of green magnificence,
Prized outcome of munificence,
How sweetly down the throat you move
To prove yourself the gift of love!
Your subtleties inform the mind
You are the acme of your kind!

Tchaikovsky's Fourth.

They telecast Tchaikovsky's Fourth last night,
That masterpiece of hesitance and fright.
I watched a beauty playing a bassoon.
How cheerfully she sat and blew her tune!
What thoughts were  those that passed across her face,
What feelings caused that air of languid grace,
What promptings raised the tempo of her heart
And took her to a place a space apart
Where circumstances gathered to dictate
The self must cede its destiny to fate?

An appreciation

Be with me now at this my eventide,
Which dips towards that time when none can hide.
How brief a while to be contemporary
There is! Then treasure in your memory
A single dear remembrance of our past
Which, lodged securely there, will ever last.

Delight in imperfection

The less than perfect is my true ideal -
To aim beyond that disregards the real
From which derive the harvests that we reap,
The only bounty we may hope to keep.

Then I shall celebrate the partial whole
Which I am proffered by a kindred soul
Whose generosity brings me delight,
Whose absence would engulf  my own in fright.

Birthday thoughts

This Birthday is a special one -
You're Daddy now - enjoy the fun!
Your days will have a different cast,
Some will be tiring, some a blast.
And through it all, as Liv grows big
And starts to sing and dance a jig,
Her presence in your saving arms
Will fill your life with cheering charms.

As ever present

 The years may pass, yet you are in my heart,
 As ever once you were, companion dear
 Who with a tender smile would cause to start
 A mood to lift the spirit and make clear
 How with your presence life was made complete,
 Days turned to years with happiness replete.
 For warmth we wrap ourselves against the cold -
 Against death's thieving grasp there is no fold.

To G...

I have been urged not to desist in this,
Which is  the distillation of the lived -
And this is my reply to that kind urge.
Of course! I shall endeavour to persist
To crystallize the not-yet-formed within,
To make that sparkle which before was dim,
And, doing so, bequeath a heart-felt hymn
To what the mind can formulate and keep
Upon the sullen vastness of the deep.

Hail, hail rock'n'roll

Just no-ones, burning to achieve their goal,
The hungry rockers lent their music soul
Enough to captivate each eager heart
That longed to beat to a rhythm apart.
And now they rock on far beyond that guise
In which they first appeared before our eyes -
Rapt eyes that ran the scale from young to old -
And as they took their place in ways untold
The stars of rock awoke in fans devotion
Which was their due through passion and commotion.
How many plaudits justly they have earned
Ascending to the fame for which they yearned!

Pluto discovered

Pluto, you have been discovered twice:
First a wandering speck, now a wondrous world;
And furthermore, indeed, discovered thrice -
We find it's clear the moon with which you're hurled
And spun in fact is no mere satellite,
For as around the Sun you jointly trip
You one the other tug as requisite
And each the other hold in common grip
To justify the name of binary
Wherein you dance in dual finery.
What further marvels yet do you portend,
Presiding pregnantly where planets end!

Birthday party incomers

We are ambassadors of zest,
Gate crashing is what we do best.
So, yes, we heard the party news,
And here we are to pay our dues.
We catch the tail of every chance -
Crank up the volume, folks - let's dance!

Love's every day

Where humankind is frail, love most abounds,
Responding in a fashion that astounds.
The sick, the victims, all who are oppressed,
Turn beneficiaries of the best.

Within a world of strife and imperfection
New hope is offered by the selfless soul
Which seeks and finds and follows the direction
To where of many parts is made one whole.