Martha's Song

In these days the leaves have withered

And daylight spins a shorter line

Years ago we'd gather wood

But this older neighborhood

Is like the season, in decline

A young couple moved in next door in October

He was humming some old song

From here behind our kitchen shade

I watched every trip she made

For she was eight months along

And oh, it was long ago

Only Syl and I still know

When we first moved into our home

I was barely showing and he was young and strong

If they knew how much I watch them

They'd probably pull their shades

To see them as they come and go

There's parts of them I've come to know

It's a little like charades

One day she stopped hush in the driveway

And proudly pulled his hand beneath her coat

Like a tiny doorbell, going off inside

I remember Syl's hand and my precious sense of pride

But oh, that was long ago

Only Syl and I still know

And oh, the precious sense of hope

When the first cry of your newborn child

Goes ringing through your home

So I went to pay a visit

One morning when I was feeling spry

She told me as we sat alone

Of plans to have the babe at home

But she really didn't need to tell me why

Thank God, in my day they used no needles

To take away that feeling of new life

And brother, you can strike me dead

Before I'd think to sell our bed

Where they were conceived was where they were born

But oh, that was long ago

When midwives still came to your home

Now where's that precious sense of hope?

Hidden like that first cry

Behind hospital walls

Maybe how that car pulled up this morning

Or maybe how these special shades of fall

Echoed down my whisper well

But somehow this morning I could tell

That it was not a social call

And as they moved from window to window

I watched their preparations and their talk

The excitement almost brought me tears

It's been nearly fifty years

Since there was a birth on this old block

And oh, that was long ago

Only Syl and I still know

Each year turns under with the plow

Our oldest boy has raised his own

And he's a granddad now

As they gathered by the bedside

The sun broke through the autumn sky so strong

Their window blinded me with glare

As if to tell me not to stare

But so clearly you could hear her labor song

And as her resting times grew shorter

I thought to run and see if Syl was near

He's standing in the door, all right

Listening with all his might

As the first cry from that first breath rose so dear

And oh,, not an hour ago

Our eyes still feel the overflow

And oh, the precious sense of hope

When the first cry from that newborn babe

Went ringing through our home