Last one standing

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When they came by
For a cupful of sugar
Took my old man
And waltzed over the hill

I was still standing
Polishing silver
Gonna be standing
Forever, until…

Next time a caller
I’d hoped would be smaller
Tripped on her doorstep
Got carried away

I was still standing
To see to a Mother
Gonna keep standing
Another long day

One time you told me
That things never mattered
Half the amount I
Pretended to say

I was still standing
Alone with no lover
Not understanding
Which words made you stay

Then they came by
With a warrant for searching
Hoping to find
What I’d hidden away

I was still standing
In need of your comfort
No one to hear me
And nothing to say

Turn from the shadows
If you fear to follow
All those who greet us
And pass on their way

I am still standing
Myself and no other
One day I’ll falter
But never today

One thought on “Last one standing”

  1. So, I hope you don’t mind me riffing your poem…

    Gesture

    I read your lyrics, with a melody in my head,
    taking “note” of every single word you said;
    thought, “I sure hope someone comes to get her,
    whose chief aim is to make things better;
    one who beams fate and destiny, this way led.”

    I read your words, caught up in phrases turned,
    feeling the anguish of one who was burned,
    not an ordinary set of scene and circumstance,
    I conjure a clear path to a better chance;
    between one life led and another yearned.

    Somewhere between heather and evergreen,
    there is a solemn vow, and one worth keeping.
    A promise floating on the wind, bids follow;
    of steadfast faith and substance, not shallow.
    Come in a wave, constant, a gesture sweeping.

    Michael Todd (2016)

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