in his closet

[martha jane]

Today I was cleaning in the living room and there was the box that we had found in his closet the other day that he had written on, Do not open.  He had it written all around the box.  I had never seen it before. I thought to myself would it be disrespectful to open it now?  Curiousity got the the better of my daughter and me so we opened it. It contained letters written from his parents , his brother in service, his discharge and other things that I had not seen before. There was nothing he would not have wanted me to see so I quess he was just being silly.

When I went to put it away, I  saw his briefcase and two fireproof boxes that I had forgotten, I went through them and it was like a review of our lives together. I tortured myself by reading everyword of everything in it. Where we bought our first house ,where we sold it, where we bought another, things like that . He had 5 two dollar bills and a one dollar bill from 1957 that was a silver certificate. And then I found an old bilfold that he had carried at one time. It had pictures of me and our kids when they were small, a small official picture made when he joined the airforce and two poems that he had saved from high school days. I had seen them before but Oh today, they had such meaning. I am going to put  them here so you will know what I mean.

Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me,

Here he lies where he long'd to be;

Home is the sailor, 

Home from the sea, 

And the hunter home from the hill.

 

And the other one

Sunset and evening star, 

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea.

Such a tide as moving seems asleep,

Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless sea

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell

When I embark:

For, though from out

Our bourne of time and place

The flood may bear me far, 

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

When I have crost the bar.

He carried these two poems from the time he was 17, moving them each time he bought a new bilfold. Now he has seen his Pilot face to face, but there is much moaning or rather mourning at the bar.

To really understand the poems you can look them up and find the meanings.

 

[marsha]

Martha Jane - thank you for sharing these poems with us.They are haunting, and yes, beautiful in the emotion they invoke. At least they were to me. Your sweet husband left this as a gift, I think. So painful now, I'm sure, but you'll be glad of this later on. Marsha

[kayc]

I don't know where he found them, but they are to be treasured, thank you for sharing them with us.

[kevin]

Martha Jane,  that was touching...this speaks volumes of your husband....thank you for sharing.....

[Marie Lee]

Lovely story and the poems were great ! What a treat for you to find! ..Tks for sharing Martha Jane..