This week the cicadas have been in the news. I’ve really only seen one, so maybe in Carroll County, Indiana, they’ll just be late, or perhaps they’ll miss us altogether . All we can hear are distant frogs. And shockingly, if we don’t see them soon, it’ll be another 17 years before we get another chance.
There was another such rare and cyclical occurrence in 1986, when we had only two kids. Last month, it seems, we had some “falling stars” from its debris. And unless Chris lives to be about 75 or 76, he’ll never see it – it’s Halley’s Comet.
The last time this famous comet came close enough to view from Planet Earth, Eric wrote a poem, which we submitted to a publisher, who said if we had just sent it earlier, they would have been glad to publish it but it was already too late for it to be relevant. So I did the calligraphy, we let the kids draw illustrations, and we made six thin paper hardcover copies with red and blue potato stamps of a comet for the relatives that year.
Here’s our book in its entirety, for our posterity. Maybe when the comet comes back again – if the Earth lasts another 40 years – our descendants can try again. Or, maybe this is all the publishing we really need.
By Eric J. Haley
© 2021
With drawings by:
Elizabeth Joy Haley
&
Emily Jane Haley
Calligraphy by:
Margie Linda Haley
Bound by:
Eric Jay Haley
This edition is limited to
Six copies
Of which this one
Is
Copy No.
1.
This book is lovingly dedicated
to the members of the
Haley family, who are
at least able to spell
their own name, and
that without hesitation.
Lafayette, Indiana
Christmas, 1985
Daddy came home from work and said,
“You won’t believe what I just read!
The weather report says “Clear tonight.”
We get to see the comet’s flight!
“The comet?” asked Lisa. “The one with our name?”
“The one with our name on it!” yelled Emily Jane.
“That’s right!” exclaimed Daddy. You’ll both get to see
The comet with our name on it, tonight after three.”
“After three in the morning?” Mom gasped in surprise.
“You’ve got to be kidding! Do you think it’s wise
To get up so early just hoping to spy
A comet with our name on it up in the sky?”
Now perhaps we should mention at this point in the rhyme
That comets go far, far back in time.
The one you can see in the picture below
Was named after a man who saw its glow.
Then figured out when we’d all see it again.
“Edmond Halley”* was the name of the man.
*(Note: We must remember that people spelled a
little funny back then.
So we must not tease Mr. Halley for
spelling his name with two “L’s”!!)
The family went to bed early that night,
Dreaming of stars and space shuttle flights.
Lisa walked on the moon for a while.
But Emily Jane just slept with a smile,
For she dreamed that she saw the comet’s light,
And right on its tail was her name (spelled right!)
In no time at all, it was three A.M.,
And time for all the fun to begin.
Mommy got up, and Daddy, too,
And Lisa and Emily Jane knew what to do.
They dressed in a flash, put on shoes and socks,
And ran to the closet to get the box
With the telescope in it, that Daddy had found
At a store one day, while shopping around.
They put on their coats and got in the car
And drove for awhile, but not very far
To an open field away from the city
Where the sky was black, but the stars were pretty.
“Look!” said Mom, with bleary eyes,
“Is that the comet at the edge of the sky?”
“I think it is,” was Daddy’s reply.
Then Lisa and Emily Jane, with a cry,
Said “Hurry up, Daddy! Get the telescope set
So we can see the comet with our name on it!”
With telescope set, they each took turns
And witnessed the fiery ball’s return.
They watched in wonder and great surprise
Until it was lost in the bright sunrise.
But Emily Jane was really amazed
At the scene she saw each time she gazed,
For when she looked closely at the tail of the comet
She saw that it did have her name written on it!
She told all the others, but they just smiled,
And said, “Isn’t she an imaginative child!
She thinks that that comet has on it our name,
When we mean that it looks and sounds kind of the same!”
But no one will know what Emily Jane saw
As she looked at the tail of that fiery ball,
For it’s far away now, and won’t come again
For a long, long time, but maybe then
Someone with a telescope will look in the sky
And see that same comet spelling,
“H*A*L*E*Y.”
The End
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