On a ferry trip from Juneau to Haines, it was night and all the ships had their lights on bright. It was flood tide, and the flotsam stops and stands still until the turn of tide. Half asleep my thoughts were wandering as follows:

A Passing in the Night

It was night on the ocean, when two ocean

liners met in the middle. All their lights ablaze

made them look like jewels, on the ocean so black.

It seemed like they did a small dance, as they passed,

then faded into the darkness, never to pass again.

They were not unlike the two people in the flotsam on

the flood tide of humanity. When they met, they became

lost in each other. Then the universe seemed to stop

at the stroke of eleven and they were alone as

everyone else faded into the darkness.

But, nothing stops for long, and the human tide

of humanity ever so strong carried them on their

individual journeys. The universe started again, and

they wondered if there would be another time and

place for them, before the stroke of twelve.

An Alaskan Rogue

"Grandpa John"

November 27, 1996