the day my father died
i could not cry
my mother cried
not i

his face on the pillow
in the dim light
wrote mourning to me
black and white

we saw him struggle
stiffen,relax
the face fell empty
dead as wax

i'd read of death
but never seen
my fathers face,i swear
was not a scene

topple that lie
however appealing
that face was absence
of all feeling

my mother's tears were my tears
each sob shook me
the pain of death is living
the dead are free

for me my father's death
was mother's sorrow
that day was her day
loss was tommorrow.

dark peoples
singing in my veins
fair peoples
singing in soft strains

o when i lift my hand and pray
i bow with blue eyes
dark hands
red hair

my prayer is life
o mother and child
in the end
o mother and child.