Bio: William E. Cooper is a Distinguished University Professor and President Emeritus at University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Poetry by Bill Cooper
THE CHRISTENING
Once a supertanker
Repaired, renamed
She now hauls ore
Explains the retired welder
Who sealed many a bulkhead
Longer than three football fields
She displaces over two hundred thousand tons
He notes, admiring the rust red hull
The black superstructure
The white deckhouse near the stern
She houses a crew of twenty one
Plus the usual array of computers
To guide her mammoth frame
She’s named Dong Fang Ocean
Her name points proudly east
Casual onlookers do not guess
She was christened otherwise
This early morning in bright sun
At sixteen knots she churns
The South China Sea
The same lane a few years ago
She lugged oil as The Mediterranean
The welder sighs, his eyes turn rheumy
He removes his cap to wipe his forehead
He sighs again
Summoning his strength to tell the rest
Nearly twenty five years have passed
Since her christening, he notes
One hopeful Saturday in San Diego
The mid-morning sky
Piercing blue
Visibility severe clear
Much like now
Amidst customary fanfare
She was named sensibly enough
For the oil company that owned her
And the oil port from which she aimed to drink
Smartly dressed attendees
Altogether pleased
Toasted this gleaming giant
And christened her Exxon Valdez
INSULATION
The first time your bare foot
Slips on a concealed patch of mud
You almost stumble
But regain stride
In the race across the meadow
After barely winning the race
You glance backward
Recall the slip and grow wary
Not wary enough
Bare feet give way to
Sturdy insulators
Socks, track shoes
Loafers, maybe wingtips
Each sure stride
Takes you farther from
The lesson of the mud
At odd moments
You sense a need for caution
As you ride on soft leather
Humming Boccherini over tires
Guessing black ice might lurk
On the bridge just ahead
You squeeze a wedge of lime
Into the Virgin Mary
As your plane begins to descend
You pray the shearing winds abate
Yearning to be barefoot again