Deployment's moved back.
Plans of togetherness wash down the side
And disappear in a gradually helpless wake.
Leave chits and itineraries replaced with
 longer letters over the seas.
This is the navy that brought us together
And takes us to lands of enchantment
(where simpletown-dreams never thought of approaching)
And launches us into the mainstream of life.
After months of deferral on life bought on credit,
The payments of salt separation come due.
Blue Hondas, gold rings, island houses
Never spelled out the price of ability.
Funny, now the same monster who provided
The incredible sum to fly to that
Faraway fantasy land devoured the hope
Which we founded on great navy bennies.
A year's worth of living and growing together
Accounts for the mere chance of growing at all.
So I'll cheerfully cast all my letters on water
And hope she'll return on the same wave that brought her.
 
July, 1987
WESTPAC