The meek that inherited the Earth
by cricketjeff on October 17, 2009. © Jeff Green, All rights reserved
Just a gawky little schoolgirl so they teased and pulled her hair
Chased her right across the playground and then left without a care
She had braces on her buck teeth awkward glasses on her nose
Like a flower in the desert unexpected beauty grows
She seemed weaker than a daisy when she tried to join the game
Didn’t ever think to argue when they handed her the blame
When they shouted hurtful insults never found a word to say
But an oak dies in a tempest while the daisy blooms next day
Over years I watched them growing she was always at the edge
When they climbed the highest mountains she was balanced on a ledge
How she tolerated bullies I could never understand
But whenever one had fallen she was always there on hand
Off to college finding partners she stayed local left alone
Now she seemed the ugly duckling when the other birds had flown
All her old friends still ignored her they were far too blind to see
That the times they were a changing that and more was clear to me
When the first of them got married she was waiting at the church
Throwing rice and hoping living wouldn’t leave her in the lurch
But her teeth were bright as diamonds and her eyes electric blue
But her foolish friends saw ugly not the vision that was true
It could never have been easy taking steps out on the stage
She’d not told them of her passion couldn’t share with those her age
But each day she tended tables she was working in her mind
On the very different Sarah that one day the World would find
When she moved away that summer no-one saw she wasn’t there
Never told them where I took her wasn’t news I had to share
She had saved a tidy nest-egg and she’d learned to take a punch
She looked like a frightened rabbit but was not an easy lunch
I drove all the way to visit, maybe every week or two
Keeping quiet in the background and she told me what was new
Wouldn’t take an easy option always acting on her terms
She was slowly getting noticed, like a snake amongst the worms
It was fun to see their faces on the day the pilot aired
But perhaps they’d read the papers so they may have been prepared
Though she changed her name they know her as the awkward girl they shunned
Now possessed of so much beauty that the whole small town was stunned
With her Oscar nomination she’s her home town’s greatest star
She will never come to visit so they worship from afar
How they wish they’d always loved her she could put them on the map
But they tread on those who suffer with the slightest handicap
She has never been a quitter, uses fame to fight her cause
Helping children get a future for the glow not for applause
I still love her with a passion and I dream of her each night
She’s a pussy cat to cuddle but a tiger in a fight
Author notes
Prompt
This song kept going through my head while in bed so I got back up to run this
contest. It is in honor of women everywhere. Men can honor women. Or women can
honor their best friend or mother or whoever. The song is by Dolly Parton,
“She’s An Eagle When She Flies.” I want you to please listen to this song and
do not just copy the words from the song in any fashion. I want the words
listened too though.
Especially this part, which is the prompt:
She’s a sparrow when she’s broken, but she’s an eagle when she flies.
Here is the link to the song:
English