Afar But Not Forgotten

Painting No.3 from the War Poppy Collection by Jacqueline Hurley
In Waters Deep

In Ocean wastes no poppies blow,

No crosses stand in ordered row,

Their young hearts sleep…beneath the wave…

The spirited, the good, the brave,

But stars a constant vigil keep,

For them who lie beneath the deep.

‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer

On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”

But you can to the ocean go…

See whitecaps marching row on row;

Know one for him will always ride…

In and out…with every tide.

And when your span of life is passed,

He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”

And they who mourn on distant shore

For sailors who’ll come home no more,

Can dry their tears and pray for these

Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow

And whitecaps marching row on row.

And they can never be lonely be

For when they lived…they chose the sea…

Eileen Mahoney