Robert Coné

Robert Coné has written five works of literature. They include a novel, two children’s books, a book of poetry and a collection that includes poetry, short stories, essays, fables and a novella. He grew up in the 1960s, is one of seven children and is a native of a small town in north central Illinois.







FROM MIDDLE ISLAND PRESS:

Sketchbook: New and Revised Poems (2014)
First Paperback Edition
ISBN 978-0-6922-9129-0
by Robert Coné
51 pages; $9.

(Available at Amazon.)

It has been said that the expanse of the landscape determines what a man writes. Sketchbook is a sampling of twenty-one anecdotal observations and short pieces written from the author’s unique Midwestern perspective.

(A browse upon pages 11 and 12…)

“Nantucket Song”

Many are the stars in the heavens
Many are the hosts on earth
Angels from the realms of glory
Watch over our humble berths

Fair winds we beseech thee
Calm seas help us find our way home
Our souls long for Nantucket—
For the music set to the metronome

There devoted to God’s holy work
Are eight thousand inhabitants strong
Together they are a blessing
They worship the day in song

Nearly one-third are Quakers
Each man is known for his skill
Engaged in the business of whaling
They bear the leviathan’s will

A voyage is two-and-a-half years
All is readied in sequence
Aboard is a complement of thirty-five men
None escapes the peril that each man frequents

Laurels, like the soldier’s, are plucked
From the brink of great dangers
So the brave seaman’s life is fraught
And yet unversed to strangers

Alas, along the edge of the ocean
No sail makes its presence known
So this mystery surrounding the setting sun
Breaks the heart made of stone

Come they now to the sepulcher
See amid the bleak mid-winter’s snow
Our trials have not been forgotten
From far afield or meadow