Song For Aunt Helen

Song For Aunt Helen
— On Her Eightieth Birthday

You set the whites out on the hedges
Pulling bleach down from the sun
Gooseberry pies cooled on the ledges
Each day sang its work hard won

You were the young and faithful daughter
Milking the cows, making the bread
Fetching the eggs, carrying water
Long after everything was said

All across the hayfields you did go
Taking the tea to feed the men
Season to season, fast or slow
Blackbird, robin, thrush or wren

Nieces and nephews near or far
Followed you about, cried on your shoulder
Horse and trap to bicycle and car
Summer came and found you older

And when the old ones passed away
Winter surrendered to the spring
The bitter cold gave up its coat of grey
And you untied your apron strings

Up to the capital you traveled
Searching for another way to live
Everything you knew had just unraveled
You wondered what you had to give

You crossed the wide Atlantic Ocean
Saying farewell to your beloved home
Ships and planes and trains, slow motion
Afraid you would forever roam

All across the city you did venture
Following your heart, your head, your hands
Making friends on your adventure
Setting roots down in new lands

How quickly now the fiddlers play
The ring upon your hand, the man close by
A tear of joy and love will have its day
And time will tell this story with a sigh

You are our wise and faithful aunt
Who’s given us so much and for so long
The one whose life says can! not can’t
The one for whom we sing this song