(Painted on driftwood, of course!)
THE CHRISTMAS SHIPS
On every of the World’s wide seas
Are ships on voyage, this night of peace:
Through waters cold, past deserts dry,
The Christmas ships are passing by.
And in the straits, and channels too,
Outbound, inbound – they sail for you.
For you they risk the storms and ice
To bring you fuel, and food so fresh,
And cloth so fine, and lumber coarse
To build and furnish every house;
In howling darkness some cast nets
To catch you fish – lest you forget.
Before you sleep, please stop – please pray
For crews at sea on Christmas Day,
And whether of your faith, or not.
For you they stand the lonely watch,
For you, forgo their family life,
Five thousand miles from child and wife.
Think, too, before you close your eyes
Of bulkheads, welds, and chains, and plates
Entrusted with these precious lives;
The thundery engine, deep inside –
That shaking heat, the blades it drives,
The radar high above, the lights.
And now above each mast this night
The patient stars themselves align
To mark once more the special time:
A bright gleam in each bridge so dim
Comes shining on the compass rose,
And bearing shows for Bethlehem.