ROBERT E. BROWNE
(1942--    )
CPO, USN, ret.
Missouri Senior Poet Laureate 2004
Winfield, MO 63389

WHO LOVED SO WELL

(A sailor's eulogy)

We sailed the sea by ocean's light,
Around the horn through restless night.
Our course and luck did make it right
To see things new in strange delight.

The seas were harsh and took their toll
With branded flesh and tortured soul
And when at last the sun sat low
It touched the earth with blood-red glow.

The mighty wars have all been won.
Now empty winds slack sails undone.
The world is ours but mates care not
And search in vain for wars unfought.

Silver breakers plight our trough
To sails unfurled and winds aloft.
Spirits soar on breezes free
That bear the souls of sailors we.

Hear our prayer--Oh Lord our God--
We lived to serve and wield thy rod.
Though wretches we, and wracked with flaws,
We are the ones who fought thy cause.

Now bleached white bones on foreign sands
Attest the toll in far off lands
For those who heard their country's call,
Brave sailors each, who came to fall.

Remember those who served on ships
And bid farewell on endless trips
Across the seas to Timbuktu
And lived and died, these chosen few.

We ask this, Lord, for those so true
And honor bound beneath skies blue
Who served and died for freedom's hand
To hold and cherish this, your land,

A sailor's death on ships of sleep
With few to know and none to weep
For faith so brave, a soul to keep
A silent grave in ocean's deep.

And when the end has come at last
And unfilled shadows heaven casts,
Remember we who served and fell
And to the hosts of heaven tell,
Bring home my boys who loved so well.

Robert E. Browne