Solstice - a Little Solace

As the solstice approaches at the end of this year

When Covid has taken its toll

The lives of our time may have been greatly altered

But goodwill shall keep us whole.

The times are strange, yes indeed I must fairly admit

When masked we must so often be

But the eyes still sparkle brightly above it all

Will a vaccine set us free?

Those of us who live away from the dulling crowds

Are more fortunate than most

Life seems almost normal and relatively free

Here on the Atlantic coast.

But I think of those people all over this planet

Living locked in a red zone

Hungering ever for the company of friends

Far too much time spent alone.

May we all reach out, lending a hand or an ear

Even by phone or email

It doesn’t take much to give a little relief

Though masked, we can still lift the veil.

Charlie

Charlie was born a princely thing

Not too long before my birth

I was born a common lad

He was born to be a King.

He is now older, as am I

A wise and ponderous soul

Who cares for the ailing earth

The seas and the universal sky.

He’s worked for struggling youth

For more friendly city streets

He’s always been inclusive

A man in search of truth.

From long ago a sage advocate

For a gentler, more sustainable way

Some laughed, oh yes some scoffed

Unheeded, is it now too late.

Charlie was born for princely deeds

A cellist he was at one time

The artist’s brush he uses well

And fine literature he reads.

He is a man for every season

A man of the heart and mighty strong

One who might seem a bit aloof

But definitely a man of reason.

Pande-mania

A friend who is a noted American poet has just written a poem suggesting that this current pandemic is an "apocalypse political and vague".

My response:

Hmm. Maybe an apocalypse. I'm not sure.

Or is it mother nature telling us we are too many

And too careless for the planet to endure.

Four point two million die a year from pollution.

Only a handful die from this strange disease.

Yes, it has paused us waiting for a solution

At least for now. But do we ever learn?

Sadly I think our memories are too short.

Should we hide or to living now return

And face our fate with dignity

In hope that care and caution temper it.

Some die, some live as it must be.

Star Light, Star Bright

This blog is mostly for fictional stories, but this story is not fiction. 

I love a night sky. Especially ones that can be viewed away from the light pollution of big cities. Often at our summer cabin we will gaze at a bejewelled universe. Occasionally we will see a shooting star, sometimes a passing satellite.

Last year in Cuba, while sitting in our garden after supper, I chanced to see a spectacle I had never seen before. I did not know what I had witnessed at first. It was, I gathered on reflexion, a large comet exploding as it entered earth’s atmosphere. This was no ordinary star. It appeared like a bright inverted comma in the sky for but an instant – a flash. It was large. Much larger than what appears to be the size of the average star – indeed to the eye it appeared to be about one quarter the size of a full moon in the night sky. That was, no doubt, a once in a lifetime experience.

But this past February, while sitting again in our Cuba garden after supper, I chanced to look up at the night sky. I saw a satellite passing above me from southwest to northwest. Now occasionally one does see one or two satellites in an evening. This particular evening, the satellite was followed in the same orbit by a second, then a third, a fourth and my partner and I counted in all 29 satellites passing in quick succession and following the same orbit like target rubber ducks at one of the booths at a fall fair. This was amazing, and I was thankful that I was not alone in seeing this extraordinary event. Then oddly, eight more satellites passed in quick succession, not in the same orbit, but randomly.

For the next six weeks I would occasionally look at the night sky from our garden. Rarely did I see even one satellite. Once I saw two. Most evenings I saw none. Now, I could be a conspiracy theorist. I am not. But I do not understand how this satellite parade could happen randomly. Probably I never will.