The Watcher
Reading edition
A frail old lady bent and gray She gazes out into the west. To her it seems but yesterday He sailed away with eager zest “I pinned a rose upon his coat” She falters, clutching at her throat. A mariner he put to sea, Twas more than fifty years ago, The neighbors nod in sympathy, She cannot understand they know. What fancies throng her poor old head “My Robert lost? He can’t be dead.” And she is right. Her clearer eye Sees through the storms and stress of years, Full well she knows he did not die The rainbow glistens through her tears Enshrined within her heart in truth Her Robert lives in deathless youth. From her lone window on the shore She nightly sets a lamp to burn A beacon when the breakers roar To guide him on his safe return. No matter what the neighbors say These two shall meet again some day!