Chain of Change
Poem for the Inauguration of Dr. Christopher Ames
As president of The Sage Colleges
Marching in caps and gowns marking the players as sage
Guardians of lore and legend dancing on the stage
Hailing the new grandmaster chosen to write this page
Charting the course through culture’s ever-shifting rage
The seasoned scholar elected to unravel tradition’s cage
Reciting ceremonial vows to welcome the unfolding age
We search for signs that will name this age
And stamp this conductor as a worthy sage
Entrusted with the keys to this ever morphing cage
Where burnished bars cast shadows upon the stage
As theory and dream present the drama of education’s rage
Freeing canonized doctrine from the yellowed page
Tradition and reason grappling on the page
Molding a myth for the forthcoming age
Ridding us of limits imposed by last century’s rage
Today we spice old chestnuts with freshly ground sage
Stirring a caldron of learning bubbling on the stage
Smudging ivied walls, transforming the cage
Wrapping seasoned scholars in an evolving cage
Where the jaded eyes of history redact every page
Today we add a link to the story told on stage
Choreographing polished steps for the dawning age
Playing new songs deciphered by the chosen sage
Together we board a raft of reason to ride the rapid’s rage
Avoiding white waters of tightly bridled rage
Steering good intentions around the confining cage
Conducting a symphonic overture for the next movement of Sage
Another name to be inscribed upon the page
Bring a rhythmic tempo for a kaleidoscopic age
As antiquity’s musings fret upon the stage
Singing arias of new aims voiced from center stage
Tatting the shimmering veil tween placid past and simmering rage
We fan the embers to fuel a flaming age
Ablaze with possibilities that inflate the billowing cage
Where stippled light splashes the gilded page
With huzzahs hailing the ascending mission of Sage
Today we move into an emerging age and shed the familiar cage
Imagination rampant on the stage, etching every page
With runes of ritual rage perfumed with the subtle scent of sage
Eclipse
The sun caresses the moon
Earth loses touch with reality
Day and night in the same room
Transiting the path of totality
Land rippled with banded snakes
Wolf howl and rooster crow
Inner grace squirming in our wakes
Noon caught in a sidereal show
The moon wears a string of red beads
The sun flecks the mist with rainbows
Clamored affirmations voicing every creed
As the heavens unveil chatoyant glows
A flaming ring of sunsets whirl around
Celestial orbs inspiring rituals of wonder
Entangled shadows writhing on the ground
Expectantly we await doomsday’s thunder
Until Ra reposts the day’s light,
And Luna waxes the night
*Sidereal (sai.di.ri.al) adjective relating to the stars
Barbara in den Bosch says
Thanks, Robert. I thought Eclipse was absolutely wonderful!