a friend
from my student years
has gone

he leaves the remnants
of his cohort
with their fading memories
of slide-rules and fountain-pens
mental arithmetic
blackboard chalk and dusters
pushbikes in the rain
and tennis with wooden racquets

for most of us back then
the continents were immovable
the moon was still an aspiration
photography was achieved with negatives
and cars were only borrowed
from parents
on very rare occasions

our teachers and our schools
and the focus of their views
have long been overlayered
by the aggressive impositions
of evolution and change

you leave us with your DNA
the World Wide Web
and GPS on our mobile phones

Farewell good friend

take with you
the knowledge
that you still participate
in my most enduring
recollections




for Ken died 2014     nev2015