If I Have Gone To Sleep

If I depart in early sleep
    And cease to be with you,
My thoughts I'd leave for you to read,
To hold your hands in times of need,
    To soothe your grieving too.

I've written words you have not read
    That speak of you, my love.
In them, I do express for you
A love as deep as oceans blue
    And wide as space above.

We've lived as one for many years
    Despite some days of pain,
But never did we keep a thought
From holding back the love we sought,
    But strove for it to reign.

For forty-one abiding years,
    I've prized my time with you.
And I do hope we both will see
The dawn ahead when we'll be free
    From death and sadness too.

But if I were to fall asleep
    Before what will be new,
Remember this: the hope we hold,
The one that God will soon unfold,
    Will bring us back anew.

So cherish all the words I'll leave
    If I have gone to sleep,
For they will be my hands on you,
Caresses from the man you knew,
    Forever yours to keep.