The Pattern

Kim A McKee©

Oh the sea can take the lovers
And the fathers from our homes
And leave a hole within the hearts
Of those who watch them go

So we stitch for them a sweater
With love to keep them warm
And hidden there within the wool
The pattern for their return

Chorus:

And this man will not be nameless
When they claim him from the swell
There is so much more to this man’s life...
That the pattern does not tell

Oh this pattern gives his name to him
If he’s lost upon the foam
But does not tell much of his life
Or those he left at home

Of the loving nights with tallow lights
The laughter and the tears
It speaks his name, but does not sing
The songs of all our years

Chorus

I remember all the love I felt
While stitching slow and even
The tenderness he spoke to me
Upon his sea-bound leavin’

Now I stitch beside this peat fire
Dreaming of my lover gone
And cry and sing a prayer for
The pattern of my son

Last Chorus:
And this boy will not be nameless
When they claim him from the swell
There is so much more to this boy’s life...

That the pattern does not tell