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A Poem of the 40th Year Reunion

September 21, 1996

Within the horizons of this room,
the universe we once knew
again assembles

We are all but strangers now, even to our former selves.
And yet, conversation is too liquid,
too filled with memory
to ever be that of mere strangers.

How free the air,
fellowship without agenda sustains itself.
Even hesitations, doubts
(some voiced at evening's edge)
become simply bridges to one another.

Free of "long range" plans, it is the short range,
(tonight itself)
that links our collective past,
our individual destinies.

Soon, lights will dim.
Night will have its way.
And yet, the stars still shine.
Don't forget the stars.

                    --Mark Helbling

 

 

 

 

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A Poem for the 50th Year Reunion

Increasingly we live in memory;
it's surely the longer view.
But strange to say,
we now look forward to this
backward look.
Another reunion,
another union,
with those who make their way.

Do find the time,
for we shall dance and drink the night away,
laughing and wondering how strange it will be
to celebrate this gathering
of our youthful selves
in the year 2006.

            --Mark Helbling

 

A Poem for the New Year

January, 2006

Again the tilt.

Winter constellations
wheel to place
As autumn skies
fade to gray.

Cygnus, Ursa Minor, Delphinus
crowd the stands
While baseline lobs
reflect the downward sun.

All is motion.

Scorpio aces Libra
Impatient Sagittarius waits
to serve.
Only Taurus plays in the Argentine league.

Today, 56 candles light the court.
And 'ol John Muir,
dressed in metaphor and rhyme, 
leaps the net...
...a pirouette.

Circle within cycle
A new year is born.

--Mark Helbling

 

 

 

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