Those many years ago;
I felt the grief rise like a groundswell,
And count how much I owe.
So innocent, and almost pure
Those years gone by, I was,
Alone and lost, in all unsure,
Rebel without a cause.
The deepest debts, cannot be said,
Repayment, in a word
Impossible—for how be paid
The world? It is absurd.
The end came swift before I might
Relay my thanks to you;
As you go into that good night
I pray somehow you knew.
It matters little. Words are words,
Yet we were bonded by
Unselfish friendship’s mystic chords
Not broken as you die.
If there be heaven, you shall join
Blameless angelic ranks,
Club membership not gained by coin,
And so I give my thanks.