A shimmering pool of knowledge;
Scintillating wisdom —
foraged from 85 fecund years
From pasting together the fragile balsa strips
of model plane
From meandering down the
sinuous lanes of Europe
From the august ivy-mantled buildings
of Georgetown
From distant tarmac
of remote British outposts
To years of tenacious political
wrangling
Fighting with the obstinance
of conviction
And finally
to the weaving
of a family
The laborious construction
of an iron foundation
of bracing domesticity
This pool, this lambent reservoir
winks and twinkles
And as the gyre of time turns,
it grows ever deeper.