In Before The Dark

I begged and pleaded, "Let me go. I swear, I won't go far."
He said, "It hurts to watch you grow…
be in before the dark!"

I headed out, this stubborn child, a world away from home.
He held my hand through every mile,
not once, I walked alone.

I laughed and loved and worked and played - ignoring every clock,
but heard those words each time I prayed…
"be in before the dark!"

I braved the winds and blinding snow, but also felt the sun.
For fifty years of joy and pain,
I stayed out on the run.

Then on it came, the first street light - yet still came as a shock.
As Father called me from the night…
"be in before the dark!"