Safe Journey

by Lucy M. Young

A year ago, I left him with a prayer.
'Twas all I could do
For he must leave this part of embarkation
To do his duty.
From the train I watched him go
Back to the station.
Slim and graceful in his uniform.
He was just a little boy
Stumbling a little with the grief
Of parting
Yet knowing it must be.

He seemed so young and I so very old.
With tears in my eyes and a prayer in my heart
I watched him walk away.
At the door he turned and waved adieu.
I could not even think farewell.
May God forgive, as I watched him disappear
Behind that door
I thought, "Is that the last I'll see of him?
Is that the picture I must carry all my life?"

Fervently I prayed, and kept on praying.
As the days, and weeks, and months went by
His letters came, kept coming.
God was with him all the way.
He alone knows what my sailor saw.
What he endured.

Now he is back - a man, silent and stern.
But what a depth of character and love
Shines from his eyes.
Now I am the child and he must lead me
To new understanding.