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.