Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, REMEMBERING, by VIRGINIA TAYLOR MCCORMICK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

REMEMBERING, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Rosana was our mammy's niece
Last Line: When we were gone.
Subject(s): Family Life; Relatives


Rosana was our Mammy's niece
Who used to come and stay
Whenever a new baby came
And Mammy went away
To that dark room where Mother looked
So beautiful in bed,
And lying by her, snug and warm,
A round pink, wrinkly head.
And Mammy at the nursery door
Would say, "Don't tell dem chillen
Dose tales o' blood an' burnin',
An' godless men a-killin'."
So we would sit as still as mice,
Rosanna's smile would spread,
When the floor of Mother's room above
Creaked under Mammy's tread.

Then the story of John Brown would come,
In a chanting kind of song,
Till the big hall clock struck eight sharp chimes
And Father came along
To tell us Mother sent her love,
And baby brother's too,
And will we say our prayers and go
To bed just like we do
When she is here to see us bathed,
And tucked in warm and tight,
And will we sleep, while she's upstairs,
Without the nursery light?

And Father's voice was trembly as
He helped us say our prayers,
And kissed us, then he went away
To the blue room upstairs,
Where Mammy rocked the baby
And Mother lay alone . . . .
I often used to wonder what they said
When we were gone.





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