page 6

Trilogy

[Old Man, aged over 70 Young Man, aged early 30s Boy, aged about 8]

[I]

Old Man: I have watched the stars
Since I was eight, when I learnt
What stars were. My father used
To take me out on a fine night
And pass on the heavens
To my young inquisitive mind
Where they remained firmly
Imprinted to this day. I suffered
A crick in my neck in my youth
Seemingly interminably
From gazing starward
Night after night.
I watched Orion make his aged way
From one sector of the universe
To a new one, and
The other groups of stars crawled
[unclear: O] old Orion's power.
Yet, in time, Orion would appear
Once more where he had been,
And many times since
I watched Orion make his aged way
From one sector of the universe
To a new one, and
Yet, in time, Orion would appear
Once more where he had been,
And many times since
Has he returned.
But the infinite galaxy—which I
In my youth tried to count!
Remains above the zenith
Anchoring the stars within the bound
Of human vision.
I have heard men speak of meteors
And comets
Which race headlong through the dark,
Or amble silently on what is just
Another stretch of an eternal journey—
They glow, and pass—I have heard
Of these, but long still to see them—
For near seventy years I have watched:
I am watching still .…

[II]

Young Man: We Sad our nephew staying
With us over the holidays.
No—Peter's lad: great young fellow,
Full of energy. Like his dad,
I guess, who was always the most
Active of us five. Actually,
It all worked out rather well,
All things considered—my Uncle Jack
Was staying with us too—
Fine old boy. Well, he
And this nephew hit it off
Like nobody's business, which
Was great because Iris
Has a lot to do, and I, of course,
Had to be at work. Still,
I managed to give them
A couple of picnics.
This old uncle of mine
No, those ones atoft—
And do you know?—
He had my nephew
Almost as keep on them himself.
Had to be at work, still,
I managed to give them
A couple of picnics.
No, those ones atoft—
And do you know?—
He had my nephew
Almost as keen on them himself
By the time they left.
As far as I know he's been interested
In them since he was a kid—
Untie Jack, I mean—
I don't really know what he sees
In them: after all, they're all
Out the same every night.
Never mind—everyone to his own taste,
I always say:
It takes all sorts to make a world.
By the way, did you see
In the paper about that
Golf match?
Fantastic, eh? Gee,
What a beaut!
I bet they felt like some
Refreshment when they finished:
I'd love to have seen it .…

page 7

[III]

Boy: Dear Mummy and Daddy.
Today it was fine and sunny
And we all went for a picnic
In the bush and cooked steak
On a fire.
And there was a river and
We all went for a swim and
Old Uncle Jack tried to splash me
But I lay down in the water
So he couldn't. Old Uncle Jack
Is funny. I like him.
The steak got burnt and I ate
Some of Uncle David's because he
Said he would prefer to eat
Trees. Uncle David is funny too
I like Uncle David too. Aunty
Iris doesn't talk much but she
Is Nice and I like her too.
It was a good picnic and we might go
On another one next week if
Uncle David can get off work.
Last night was good fun too,
Old Uncle Jack and me went for a walk
Over to the barn. I like
Old Uncle Jack—he showed me
All the stars and told me all
About them, and—Guess What!
We saw a comet. Old Uncle Jack
Was very excited and laughed a lot
And waved his stick round and
Cheered and shouted at the comet
Good old comet. He said that
Lots of times and I cheered too
Because I was excited and
Old Uncle Jack was too
And it was fun. Old
Uncle Jack is nice. We are going
To look at the stars another night.
The Milky Way is huge; I tried to count it,
But I couldn't.
You remember that postcard
Daddy has. It has a snip on it
And the ship is called the Orion.
Well—did you know there is
A star which is called Orion too?
Old Uncle Jack showed it
To me before we saw the comet.
I will be going home in two weeks and three days.
Love from .…

Poem by E. James

Drawing by M. Willoughby