Here’s another song written in a stroke of madness. At Pennsic, a wonderful bard named Dahrien has a deck of cards (the “Leken av Poetisk Kubb”) with song ideas on it. I drew “Lament for a Mother-In-Law” and pulled a small monologue out of thin air. The next day, this beauty sprang fully-formed to my fingers, inspired by that moment. Thanks, Dahrien! This is partly your baby.
- The fire’s flame is banked low
- An empty chair sits by the door
- There’s a cane without an owner
- For you are here no more
- I was a girl of fifteen
- When your son brought me home
- Amidst a horde of strangers
- I felt so all alone
- You took me by the hand
- And led me to the fire
- You taught me of your people
- With a grace I did admire
- Side-by-side we toiled together
- With your words I had no fear
- My heart was never lonely
- For you were always near
- The years they traveled onward
- As we raised a strapping brood
- Your kindness kept my children
- Always in a cheerful mood
- My son has traveled elsewhere
- His sweet young bride to seek
- To bring her to her new home –
- He is due back in a week
- A pang it fills my heart
- It fills me ‘til I weep
- I hope to be to his bride
- What you were to me
- I hear your voice a-whisper
- A phantom in the hall
- “Of all the virtues we shared –
- Love was best of all.”
- The fire now is blazing
- ‘Tis your chair I sit upon
- And the cane it has an owner
- As the cycle passes on
That’s great. Sweet. Wistful. And touching. And it fits (life). I remember your drawing the card and answering, and I remember my response — very positive, Lillie! And this growth of the little babe that was birthed there in that gathering, it pleases me 🙂 . Partly my baby, hmmm? Yeesss, I’m happy to have fathered this song on you. 🙂
(Hmmm … Yes, it is rather like that, isn’t it, actually? When you “drew the card from my deck”, I planted a little seed in you, it developed and grew, you brought her forth when she was ready to survive, then she grew up into a full-fledged song ready to stand on her own. Congratulations, Mother!)
I believe I shall name this child “Ealhwyn” 🙂 . [<- father's beaming smile of pride] But of course, I am a kind and considerate man; so what do you think of this name, Mother? 😉
— Dahrien =)