“Father Mother” In the dark nights of Africa Amid the plaintive cries of our mothers We were born, robbed and condemned To be the last mouth to feed, added worry In the shadow of daily family misery Growing up small, quiet, unhappily Our swollen bellies telling a story Mother cannot reply, food is too scarce We sit, we wait one more day, we stare As father is wasting away, smiling bravely A bag of bones we so love, we cannot bare To see his light flicker and gently die His grave not bigger than a child’s We wish it was us in the soft red earth We cannot walk without a hand to hold Father Mother Oh we love you so Father Mother Oh we need you so Father Mother Oh we love you so… and…we miss you so Fear is served as our daily meal Mother beloved before our very eyes Turns into a delicate paper sheet We can read on the leaves of her life The love, fierce, endless she has for us She promises she will see us grow up She promises a feast fit for an African King Lying on a bed of rags, we smile, crying Mother, so brave, turning her last page Today we closed her book and buried her story Father Mother Oh we love you so Father Mother Oh we need you so Father Mother Oh we love you so… and…we miss you so Tears soak our unwritten book We do not dare turn the next page No one to help us fill the lines Of our own very young lives Father Mother Oh we love you so Father Mother Oh we need you so Father Mother Oh we love you so… and…we miss you so (2x) “Father Mother” Copyright © 2005 Isabelle Gravenstein All Rights Reserved
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:21:00 +0000