THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IDEA The most beautiful idea on the face of the earth is the idea the child has that his father knows everything. Jack Kerouac, The Town and the City Memories beat inside a hollow chest As I awaken to a sledgehammer of sorrow I hear you say: The best of thoughts are tears When words will soothe tomorrow I feel the circle close As your lifewill's slowly broken You're gone And now it's me who knows The truth of what you've spoken Father, further will I try to band That ring each has of winning But sometimes An end must be at hand To realise a beginning. To my Dad. With love. November 1994