Singing Softly With Mary

This is not going to be a maudlin bit
About how the world has gone to hell

And how all the good is slowing leaking away

It is just a note that Mary died

And somehow that leaves a hole in an unexpected place

Oh, I still have her in song after song

In scratchy 33s, old fragile cassette tapes

And now in crisp mp3 format

All songs of another place, another time

I don’t remember the first song I heard

Maybe “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”

Or it could have been “Puff the Magic Dragon”

I’ve played both this morning

And many more since the word came

That her beautiful voice is still

I’ve listened for years to the innocent words

In songs of joy, of peace, of longing

And of dragon named Puff

No need to point out how different

The songs are from those that play today

Blasting from the dark tinted windows

In the car in the next lane

So I sit here in my living room

Listening to Mary sing

With Peter and Paul

Chiming in

Bringing back thoughts of days long ago

Every phrase I can think of is trite

But it doesn’t take away

From the sadness that she is gone

And so are the days of her songs

Michael Mathews
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09-17/09 12:11 PM