Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DESERT MOTHER, by BERTA HART NANCE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DESERT MOTHER, by                    
First Line: Her husband had been gone for weeks
Last Line: That gave her strength to go away.
Subject(s): Death; Deserts; Food & Eating; Mothers; Strength; Dead, The


Her husband had been gone for weeks,
And now she knew that she must die
Before his wagon rumbled home,
None but the children standing by.

Folk rarely passed the lonely place.
The eldest child was nearly ten;
She mothered Janet, Dick, and Tom,
As busy as a little wren.

"If you should wake and find me gone
Some morning soon," she told the girl,
"You must not go to look for me
Till daddy comes," and stroked a curl.

"Just wash the plates and bring the wood,
And keep the children fed and clean,
And watch for daddy every day,
My darling little Josephine."

The children slept, the night was dark,
She slipped away without a sound, --
The children waked, the days went on,
The desert sun was red and round.

When daddy came, the search began;
Upon the plain he found her clay,
And wondered at the mother love
That gave her strength to go away.





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