Stately Home in Dawson

Meri Rees

I slumber now beneath the trees,
The oaks are now my stage,
The curtain on my life draws near,
My beams are weak with age.

I’ve watched for years as limbs spread out,
Reach closer to my side
And through those years so many stopped
And looked on me with pride.

I saw the sons and daughters born,
Their muffled midnight cry,
I heard them take their last breath of life
And heard their sad good-by.

Through it all I’ve proudly stood,
Watched nature give its yield,
I’ve watched the peanut, corn grow high,
The mules in the field.

I’ve seen the coming of the truck,
My road paved smooth and wide,
I’ve watched the good times come and go,
My family safe inside.

So many years I’ve stood my ground,
Through freeze, through heat and warm,
My timbers held, my roof stayed on,
I braced against the storm.

Now age has crept within my walls
And weakened me within,
A skeleton is what remains
Now under rusty tin.

Oft times I see the people come,
A picture here and there,
Today a woman stopped outside,
I heard her whispered prayer.

saw her wipe a tear away,
It rolled on down her cheek,
I tried to stand much straighter
As I shielded her from the heat.

She reached and touched a fallen brick,
I watched her touch a nail,
She stood a moment under oaks
And stripped back aged veil.

She saw through time when I was new,
She heard the laughter, tears
And stood a moment in the shade
To see through all the years.

I slumber now beneath the trees,
Through history’s endless page,
A footnote in a memory
While I grow weak with age.

Written by Linda Lee