I shall have faith in thee, for I depend
On Thee, Thou knowest we're in this together.
Thou makest me to lie upon soft matresses
In airconditioned spaces. Thou rockest me
To sleep on sometimes gentle seas, to swish
Of water and machinery's rhythmic thrum,
To perfume scent of jet exhaust and fuel.
I fly Thy wing by night pursuing Freedom,
Justice, Righteousness for Thy name's sake.
Yea, when I launch from off the pointy end
Into a storm on nights without a moon,
I fear no Evil, for Thy Bernoullies 'neath
My rotor wings sustain my flight, keep me
Aloft. When target glows with missile trails
And tracer-bullets light shows, copious drench
Of sweat anoints my brow; when bladder would
Run over, Thy RESCAP jets reach out and cover
Me that I may find and snatch their wingman
From the clutches of the Evil One.
Tbou settest out a feast of Mid Rats in
The Dirty Wardroom and the Mess Decks for
Those of us who've just returned from six
Hours in the Badlands. We raise our cups to toast
And baptize one another, then after every
Flight we'll loud proclaim, "My Lord and Captain,
We're back on deck, and what the heck, we've cheated
Death again!" Now I will sail and fly
With Thee forever, Lord, until and after
Our last departure when we simply fade
And disappear beneath the gray horizon.
Hoo ahhhhhhhh and Amen.