Nancy's Song

(The Last Leaf)

Who will remember these when I am gone?
The winds of Saskatchewan rippling in song
On the harp strings of wheat fields which trembled and swayed
At the touch of each breeze while we worked and we played?

So many we were! And each dear one lives on
In my memory. Annie and Alfred and John.
Charlie and Dick with their mischievous ways
Were so much a part of my growing up days.

The sparks from the blacksmith shop's anvil still fly
In my mind as I saw them in days long gone by;
But where are the horses whose hooves Father shod?
Am I riding them still o'er the untrammeled sod
With the prairie wind whipping my hair?
No, I'm left
As the last of them all. Why have I been bereft
Of Esther and Eddie, both younger than I?

I'm alone in this nursing home, wondering why
Our Lord in his wisdom is keeping me on
When Father and Mother and Tina are gone
And Emma, Roy, Eric and Carolyn too.
Are there still tasks God has planned I should do?

I'm lonely. So many are waiting for me,
The last leaf still clinging to our family tree.

Marion Lien
November 19, 1996