Poems (Truesdell)/I'm with You, dear Sisters

by Helen Truesdell

I'M WITH YOU, DEAR SISTERS.

I'm with you, dear sisters!
 I'm with you once more;
Kind greetings await me,
 Fond friends at the door.

All hasten to meet me,
 And welcome me home;
Oh, why from such friends
 Should my footsteps e'er roam?

I have not been long, dearest sisters, away,
But sad was my heart, though brief was my stay;
So kind and so gentle, so loving and true,
In joy and in sadness, I 'm ever with you.

But thou, dearest brother, the loved one of all,
I fancy thy footsteps in parlor and hall,—
Thy voice rings out gladly, and falls on mine ear;
I know 't is but fancy, I feel thou 'rt not here.