This year marks the thirtieth year for my company, Object Innovations, which I founded in 1993 with a great deal of support and encouragement from Marianne. I have been thinking of my early days in my own business when I did quite a bit of traveling to teach courses at different locations. In 1994 I was teaching a course in Tampa, Florida, and after class one day I went to see an early showing of the movie The Shadow. I had already seen and been struck by it, and I embraced the opportunity to see it again. Afterwards I went for a walk in the early evening, and then wrote this poem:
A Walk at Night The tall palm trees are lovely They line the street where I walk They mark the limits of my travels tonight They keep me straight and they shelter me As I have glimpsed the face of evil. There is strong energy in the air The electrical storm is distant I see forks of lightning arcing across the skies But I hear no thunder The force is far away Yet I know fear. Water glistens on the smaller trees I hear the water in the fountains I smell the freshly cut grass I see the lights of the planes ascending There is a sense of magic in the air. I will leave on one of those planes I will return to those I love And I will be glad. But part of me will remain with the palm trees The glistening leaves and the fountains The forks of lightning and the awe and fear The wonder and mystery of life.
Earlier this year I was remembering that time in Tampa, and I wrote these lines:
That memory crosses the years and comforts me As I feel a separation far wider now than then From the one I so deeply love. As I sit in my quiet house I feel not pain but a surprising balm As I know in my heart that now as then I will be coming home.