Page:Poems of Patriotism (1942).djvu/50

 He’s working hard! Between the lines We gather that. The brass he shines Without complaining, and the food He gets to eat is very crude. And yet he laughs at all his chores. He says the maid who scrubs our floors Will have to quit when he returns Unless a better way she learns. “I’ve got it on the fairer sex,” Says he, “since I am swabbing decks.”

“A sailor’s life, dear Mom,” writes he, “Is not the life you picked for me. And yet I’m getting fat and strong And learning as I go along That any life a man can find Is apt to grow to be a grind Unless a fellow has the wit To see the brighter side of it. Don’t worry for your sailor son; He sleeps well when his work is done.”

We’ve had a letter from the boy, And, oh, the gladness and the joy It brought to us! ’Twas good to know