Birthdays! Are milestones of the passing years,
From childhood they have given us happy pause,
For friends and loved ones marking them with gifts
And their good wishes for the road ahead.
Our footsteps falter now, our eyes grow dim;
We need a helping hand, a friendly word
To cheer us on our ever lonelier way.
Some, dearly loved, have left us far behind.
But still we hope to find them somewhere soon
And so journey on: There is no turning back
Soon shall we climb the last and steepest height
Into the glory of the setting sun.
But few the stages that are left to tread
And sweet the certain rest at journey's end.
To Nana on her birthday
Written on 23 January 1965
By 'Rex' of Ferndown, Dorset on his 72nd birthday
