the Last Farewell

“You are probably sat in front of your computer in your safe little home with your family around you. Imagine then being torn from your family and sailing off for an unknown time to an unknown destination. Those of you who have or have had loved ones in the Navy….will know exactly what I mean and feel every word and emotion in this piece.”

You remember that day, so clearly now.
The dockyard. The Jetty. The waiting ship.
The sadness. The sorrow. The trembling lip.
The kiss -  that said” I love you, more than you will ever know…
And though it breaks my heart, I really have to go”
The hooting of the tugs as the ship pulled away.
The sky matching your every mood, now cloudy and grey.

Then – those  first bitter moments of loneliness
As you remember his touch, his kiss, his caress.
But now – you are alone.
Alone to think. Alone to cry.
Alone to ask yourself…why?

Why was each parting such bitter sweet sorrow.
Why did he have to go away,  again.
Who would be there for every tomorrow
To wipe away the tears that would fall like summer rain?
Were loneliness, and separation, just part of the price –
Of being a Sailors wife?

As you slowly left the dockyard and made your way home –
A ship slipped out of the harbour and into the raging foam.
It’s destination – who knows – somewhere near, or maybe far away.
It’s duty, one that all sailors must obey.
To preserve the freedom of our homeland and sea.
You silently whispered a prayer – “Lord bring him back safely to me”.
When you reach home, though the children are there –
The house seems so empty, so bleak and so bare.
Little Jimmy asks “Where’s Daddy”
You reply – “He’s gone away”
Silence. Then….”Why Mummy, didn’t he want to stay”

Later that night with the children in bed and past asleep
Your thoughts and your mind, drift away into the deep
And you remember another time, just like today
You remember how it was – the last time he went away.

How at first, your nights and your days, were filled with tears.
How each month seem to last for a hundred years.
How you longed, each day, for some word, maybe a letter
And how each loving word made you feel so much better.

Yet – still you asked yourself, “are there many other wives like me,
Married to a man, whose first love is the sea.”
My friend, this is not  story, About a love that died
For now you will discover, this story’s other side
That of that sailor so far away at sea
For not so long  ago – that was me.
Just like that sailor, I was once a wanderer to
And I left behind me, someone special, like you.

Yet, it was not for a life of adventure, that I went to sea.
It was just a lifestyle that had appealed to me.
My father had been a sailor for over twenty years
Listening to his many stories had given me ideas
I wanted to see for myself, those far away places
I wanted to met different people, different races.
I wanted to travel before I settled down
With a wife, children & job in an anywhere town.
So I signed up for nine long years & travelled far and wide
My home each ship I served on - the sea, a willing bride.
Yet a sailors life at sea does have a serious side .  
Endless drills, secrecy and silence, far out at sea
Preparing for war or any other eventuality.
After seventeen years I grew tired of the life

and the heartbreaking months and years away from my wife.
A life of adventure, a life at sea
no longer held any pleasure, or excitement for me….
And so, with my final voyage done
I returned home to England, my country -and my wife and son.

I can promise you that your loved one, will one day feel the same -
and you will be more than just a photograph in a golden frame -
and the children’s daddy, will be much more than just a name.
Then love will become once  more a reality – and not – just a memory.
There will be no more loneliness, no more sorrow
No more having to face alone, the emptiness of every tomorrow.

You cam live your lives together, in harmony and peace
until the sands of time begin to cease
when all sailors must answer, to the ringing of the ships bell
for that final trip – to Heaven – The Last Farewell.