Cursum Perficio

(In ómós do mo mháthair agus do m'athair)

Beyond the Ross Dependency

These are the only clues to today's soundtrack. After the Kinks and The Carpenters it is not that embarassing but I thought I would tease you with a few clues rather than a straight listing. I had forgotten how good this record actually is. Having written this, I cannot now write any more about it without giving it away.

'Beyond the Ross Dependency' is actually a very good title for a poem but maybe I should stop writing verses based on nothing more than the title. There is not a lot beyond the Ross Dependency which is bit like my imagined poem; not a lot beyond the title. It may come to me. The white and cool is a nice image whether or not the poem gets written.

My Father and I were quite surprised to see a pair of Swallows on the telephone wires at home last week. They are very late in leaving for the South and it is likely that they will both perish in the winter. What was also surpirsing was the number of insects still flying and giving the birds a good meal. It reminded me of the bit in Wind-in-The-Willows where ratty tries to persuade a Swallow to stay behind for the winter. The bird recounts how it stayed one year and was caught by the bad weather before eventually deciding to leave for Africa. Reminds me of the Bright Days of My Youth. And Michael Palin in the Sahara.

Oh that you knew what I was listening to. It is so beautiful, calming and the way the world should be. This window is too small to put in all I feel at this moment, too limited to describe the happiness that is in this language. I bought this record on the strength of its cover alone on returning from a trip to the USA. I was listening to a track from it, reading the Sunday papers when I strayed across the chart listing for that week and found the song was Number 1. It never struck me as pop chart material but there you go; I am no authority on such things.