Classic Poem

Here on life's Cross Roads, friend, our ways now sever,
And each must journey 'neath an altered sky,
Yet in the years to come our hearts will never
Forget the glad hours of the days gone by.

Oft have we sat before the bright logs blazing
On the wide hearth, and closed the winter's day;
Oft in the meadows, where the cows were grazing,
Have watched the summer sunsets die away.

Oft have we sped, girt with the engine's thunder,
Down the bright track into the golden dawn;
Oft through dark forests when the moon, in wonder,
Peered 'neath the trees at the long smoke outdrawn.

And now when autumn fields are filled with beauty,
And while the breath of harvest is so sweet,
We who have heard afar the voice of duty,
Shake hands and part where these two roadways meet.

Dear brother heart, we leave farewells unspoken,
We shall not change nor can our love forget,
For on life's sky, by sun and shadow broken,
True friendship is a star that does not set.