LADY JANE
We know a great lady named Jane
Her glories are all very plain
She’s warm, and she’s wise,
She has beautiful eyes
She’s thoughtful, she’s gracious,
She’s most efficacious
And she has an incredible brain
We honor this great Lady Jane
Her virtues are a joy to explain
She’s collected, she’s calm
She’s a wonderful mom
She’s courteous, caring,
She’s royal of bearing
Wherever she goes, people gain
She moves with no evident strain
Influencing ever wider terrain
She has depth, she has reach,
She can tour, she can teach
There’s nothing she lacks
Neither forehands nor backs
What a treasure, our dear Lady Jane
She served in the physics campaign
Then DOF (Old Campus terrain)*
And now . . . Registrar —
She shines like a star
She’s highly esteemed
She’s more than we dreamed
Then again . . . she’s the great Lady Jane
With England her ancestral domain
A California girl in the main
She serves on committees
She practices Sidhis
She manages files
She listens and smiles
While she lives amid fields of grain
Our jewel she’ll always remain
A great, golden link in the chain
She’s noble, she’s noted
She’s deeply devoted
My friends, mark this hour —
An engine of power
Has moved to the head of the train
As if through a crystal clear pane
Pure Being shines through Lady Jane
It’s happy, it’s bright
With splendiferous light
She gives it a flavor
That we love to savor
Pure and sweet as the juice of the cane
There’s nothing she will not obtain
No boundaries will ever constrain
No one is quicker
With badge or with sticker
She’s a proofer, a writer
Who grows ever brighter
There’s one and just one Lady Jane
As she rises, heads turn and necks crane
Light breaks through darkness and rain
She’s luminous, clear,
Ever ready of ear
She’s prized, she’s admired,
She’s widely desired
She’s simply the great Lady Jane
Sleeping elephants — lie where you’ve lain
Do not stir — we will not complain
Our collective desire
Is: Jane should soar higher
Her serve is a strong one
Her service, a long one
She’s rare among rare, Lady Jane
This we wish for the great Lady Jane:
May she live in a royal demesne
Nothing will stop her
In a Vastu that’s proper
May she flower and flourish
And continue to nourish
And, especially, long may she reign
May 25, 1995, 1998
And now here she goes — San Diego
To the state where all colors are Day-Glo
We ask, on the eve
Of watching her leave:
Why would she so far away go?
One reason is rather specific:
To be near the ocean — terrific
Well, we have one too
And though it’s not blue
It’s unbounded, and pretty pacific
What kind of work would she do?
She’s applied for a job at the zoo
The zoo? Well, my word —
That’s rather absurd —
We have quite a good one here too
She tells us, with poise and aplomb,
That she wants to be close to her Mom
And Narayana and Katie —
Well, it’s a rare lady
Whose children all think she’s the bomb
May she carry our torch and our flame
May she garner some fortune and fame
And may she quickly return
From this sudden sojourn —
For email’s just not the same
August 7, 2001
* DOF = Dean of Faculty – Jane was the assistant to Dean of Faculty John Greco, and when I took over that position, Jane became my assistant.