Lillian & Martha

The paper sits upon the step, the messenger already gone

And lillian sits next to it, and looks across the coming dawn

The type is bold enough to read, for eyes so tired and set with time

And lillian cannot believe, the photograph and bold headline

She leaves the step and lights the stove, she heats the kettle cracks the eggs

And from the porch the paper blows, it lifts and weaves and floats away

And lillian, she smoothes her hair, she sits to rest her aching feet

And up the old and oaken stairs, martha stirs and leaves a dream

She reaches out across the bed, finds the sheets are tucked and cold

She calls aloud for lillian, her heart it beats and strains and slows

And lillian, she climbs the stairs, she hears her martha’s ragged breath

She lies beside her calms her fear, it’s alright darling you can rest

And long they lay there side by side, the breath of two becomes the one

And down the street the photo flies, of martha and of lillian

And now the town it slowly wakes, unrolls the paper, sits to read

The news it travels cross the state, of hearts that struggle to be free

And from the front in love and tears, lillian and martha wave

The courthouse after fifty years, on their long awaited wedding day

Beyond the step the day begins, the heat it rises from the road

And down the stair comes lillian, a promise kept, a band of gold