His Departing
O Lord, what did it mean for those once left behind
As watched their children leave to cross the brine
To be forefathers to these restless kin
What of the wrenching gut felt deep within?Today it's hard enough to watch our kids head out
To make a life themselves, what they're about;
A few short hours they're home, or we are there;
Yet deep the sadness issuing from care.Some subjects I would not approach as he packed up;
I did not speak them, parting hard enough.
Did those left waving through their island mist
Withhold their aches from children's final kiss?'Tis said that mankind’s builder of the roads we take,
So no surprise when voyages they make;
Yet as they leave first-time or subsequent,
Our heart near breaks as flap falls on our tent.I watched him go tonight, though cancelled was his flight –
It mattered not, for he had gone in sight –
For thoughts of work and friendships back at home
Like rising tide propelled his thoughts to roam.I'll miss you, son, Godspeed as you go to your home;
We'll meet again – some day, somewhere, somehow;
You've blessed us here in ways beyond compare;
God bless you, son, and keep you in His care.navigation