I cannot say, I will not say hat she is dead.
She is merely flown away.
With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,
She has soared to a strange new land.
And left us gazing up at the sky,
We, who are earthbound,we, who sigh.
Yet pause and think how surpassing fair,
It needs must be since she lingers there.
And you, O you, who wistfully yearn,
For the landing plane and the glad return.
Think of her as soaring on,
as dear in the love of there as the love of here.
She has climbed to the peaks above storm and cloud,
She has found the light of the sun and of God.
I cannot say, I will not say
That she is dead.
She is merely flown away.
A poem by James Whitcomb Riley
Altered by S. Carson Wasson for Mary Holmes Howson,
WASP Trainee, class of 44-w-4 April 23,1944
