My Tryst
You may be gay with a heart rejoicing;
But I am gay with a heart grown sad.
You keep your tryst with a world’s thanksgiving
But I keep tryst with a little lad.
To you, it may seem long years remembering
Yet to me it seems but yesterday,
With his shoulders straight, his proud eyes smiling
He waved his hand as he went away.
He paid the price for a world’s rejoicing;
He paid the price for a war not lost
How empty now are the words of valor;
How trying still is the bitter cross.
Still I rejoice with a world rejoicing
Still I give thanks that I smiled to him.
– Circa 1957