[country folk song. maybe emmylou harris, pam tillis, reba.]
Her mama told her Papa died
When she was just a baby.
There was no other family
The two were on their own.
She didn’t question Mama’s word
She prayed for Papa daily.
And did her best with Mama
To create a happy home.
Gradually, the years went by
The girl became a woman.
It didn’t seem so very long
She’d children of her own.
When cancer came to visit them,
The stay was not a long one.
And she couldn’t help but feel
A little lost with Mama gone.
**
Now Mama lies
in a chamber filled with roses
Mama lies
in a bedroom made of stone.
Mama’s eyes
look down on her from heaven
She couldn’t help but feel
A little lost with Mama gone.
**
She held the – picture of her grand kids
As she sat down at the table
And told her husband of – these thirty years
The lump might be benign.
Her doctor’d asked her family’s history
She didn’t know the story too well.
She finally did a search on Papa
And boy – had Mama lied…
With shock still ringing in her head
She gathered up the family
Together they walked through the courtyard
Of the nursing home.
Fifty-seven years she was,
Her Papa nearly eighty.
He smiled weakly at the strangers
Then stared out onto the lawn.
**
Well, Mama lied -
She left Papa to his family.
Mama lied -
She’d changed her job and then moved on.
Mama lied -
She never told him of their baby
She thought alone – she’d make things right
and it – would fix their wrong.
**
Now Papa’s eyes
look at his daughter and her family
Papa’s eyes
look into eyes he should have known.
Papa’s eyes
Travel to a distant memory.
He smiles weakly at the strangers
Then stares out onto the lawn.
