A KIND OF BEAUTY

For Peter H.

A short
farewell to say
that I will miss your ways –
your efforts and your skill, but most
of all 

the faith
you placed in us
who worked with you through thick
and thin (and let’s be honest, it’s
been lean).

While some
could lose their heads, 
you always kept your calm
through storms that lurched the daily ship
of news.

No yarn
that broke of late
perturbed your balanced mind:
“Let’s do it, folks,” you’d say, and we’d
agree,

strong in
the trust you placed
in us. Like purest gold,
it yielded pages for the world
to see –

Sydney
town at least
beheld your finest work.
The ones who read the Herald may
not know

how much
they owe to you –
but we do; standards held
so high immortalise your stint 
in here.

And as
you sail away,
please know that we will miss
your presence when high-pressure storms
return –

and in
the calmer times
that we enjoy between
the stiffer blows; in breezes light
and mild –

may those
be always at
your back and may you know
we’ll miss you long years after you
have gone.

– Rita Williams