In London Town

In London Town, a girl was born Who lost the crown, but won the scorn Of Lady Margaret's deep disdain For something proud, she cannot reign Her daughter's name was Mary Grace An angel with a beaming face Who blessed the flowers that she grew With tiny prayers and tinsel too But when her mother kicked her out To spite the lad who came about The hapless Mary lost her bed And lost the hope she had to wed For as the child within her grew Her mother felt, as mothers do That Mary's heart declined the source That put the cart behind the horse Though Margaret was a little sad To sacrifice the one she had She didn't know and couldn't see The baby was her family The charge of rape she did attest Was worthy of a boy's arrest The constable who Margaret bribed Believed the charges she described When Oliver was brought in chains To please the one who held the reins He learned that fate is never free When someone buys the victory When Seraphine was sent to Earth To bring the love behind her birth She fell between the great dispute Of Mary Grace and Margaret's boot They fought like enemies or foes Where someone stays and takes the blows To bear the shame but not the right To share the blame another night For Mary Grace, who lost the perch A desperate race became the search To find the place where strangers meet Who face the dangers of the street Their ragged friends were good to share A little bread or moldy pear But noblemen of great renown Would pass them by with just a frown When Seraphine was nearly three Her mother walked more sparingly And stopped to rest a little more Although she never said what for Her laugh was not so deep and free And she would sleep increasingly Without an appetite for food Or something light to lift her mood Eventually, no mother's cares Could satisfy her golden stairs The journey made to heaven's gate Was not a feckless twist of fate The summer sun was toiling hot Like butter boiling in a pot As Mary Grace retraced the path That once disgraced a mother' wrath Though Mary Grace was wont to cry Before a sad but scathing sky She sang a song of sweet repose To bring her path a peaceful close A scarlet sun was sinking still Beneath a twilight's fading frill When Mom and missy traced the walk That once disgraced a shady block They sat beside a garden gate Where beauty matters more than fate And flowers bloom but never sigh Except for those who hurry by The mother held her daughter tight Helping them to stay upright And with a deep, determined strength She found the words to speak at length Seraphine, my darling one Steady as the rising sun Stronger than a river’s flow Stopping where the flowers grow Blooming like a tulip Spring Brilliant as a diamond ring Busy as a Bumble Bee Buoyant like a boat for me Learning from the words I say Laughing with me every day Lifting me both day and night Loving me with all your might Stormy as a cloudy sky Sleepy as a lullaby Softer than a baby's feet Sweeter than a sugar beet Cautious like a reason why Clever as an alibi Cheerful as a holiday Crazy kid in every way If Heaven’s light is good and true May every star reflect in you That in your eyes the world may see The kind of person we should be Somebody noble, brave, and just The kind of leader people trust To raise the poor and help them see A better life is yet to be A savior to the broken man Who did the best a person can But finished last and met defeat To join the beggar in the street Seraphine, thy heart is good For I have loved thee as I should And should I choose to love thee more I could not know or think what for For truly I have loved thee best And duly fought to keep thy rest The desperate dreamers of the dusk Who lost their wings but grew a tusk My wish for you, my little star Is that you stay the way you are The better sort that people seek To love and lift the humble meek Remember too, the needy poor By keeping less, and giving more To build a world with God’s own light Where every soul is loved on sight Your gentle heart is good and true And so my joy is full in you For you have made my time complete By all the ways you made it sweet Your love is bright for me each day And so my fight would be to stay But someone near is calling me To take me home, where I must be And from that mansion on a hill My love for you will be there still To hold you here within my heart As we grow near and not apart In this old house, where love was lost Your Grandma paid a heavy cost For she is lonely, letters say By how she pushed us both away Your future here is bright indeed With Grandma’s love to be your lead And plans you make will all come true Because you love them like you do And so my spirit, borne of wings Will fly me to those fertile springs Where endlessly the sky is blue And all my dreams are dreams of you.