The Unloved Provider Poem by Ramer Libo-on

Across the wide and churning deep,
Where storm-tossed waters never sleep,
We sail through dark and distant lands,
With weary hearts and calloused hands.
From port to port, through joy and strife,
We navigate this seaman's life—
Though body aches and spirit tires,
We push through cold and tempest fires.
​We cross the world to reach our task,
No sympathy or praise we ask.
As fathers, brothers, cherished sons,
We labor for our loved ones.
We send our wages, sweat, and tears
Across the ocean, through the years,
To build a home, to buy their bread—
To keep our families safe and fed.
​To us, this duty is our love:
A silent vow to heaven above.
Though physically we're forced apart,
We carry home inside our heart.
Yet distance steals what devotion gave;
Betrayal meets us on the wave.
The ones we fought so hard to shield
Abandon us upon the field,
Deeming our sacrifice too small,
Unknowing how we gave our all.
​We cannot be in two places at once;
Our silence answered by the ocean's grunts.
It hurts to know a soul can bleed
For giving everything they need,
Only to find, when storms descend,
Unloving hearts at journey's end.
​When minds grow heavy, crushed and worn,
And spirit feels forever torn,
Take comfort in a higher grace:
You're seen within this lonely place.
​For Psalm 34: 18 knows,
The Lord is close to heartbreaks, woes;
He saves the crushed, He hears your cry
Beneath the vast and open sky.
And Romans 12: 19 says stay your hand—
Leave room for God to guide the land.
No need for vengeance, rage, or strife;
A single verse can save a life.
​So seaman, take a breath so deep,
Hold fast to faith, let angels keep
Your weary heart, your battered soul—
He sees your sacrifice made whole.