My Son

 I must not let my boy Dick down,
 Knight of the air.
With wings of light he won renown
 Then crashed somewhere.
To fly to France from London town
 I do not dare.

Oh he was such a simple lad
 Who loved the sky;
A modern day Sir Galahad,
 No need to die:
Earthbound he might have been so glad,
 Yet chose to fly.

I ask from where his courage stemmed?
 I've never flown;
Air-travel I have oft condemned,--
 Now I'm alone,
Yet somehow hold the bright belief
 God gave his brief.

So now I must live up to him
 Who won on high
A lustre time will never dim;
 Though coward I,
Let me revere till life be done
 My hero son.

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace