The meek that inherited the Earth
\nby cricketjeff on October 17, 2009.\u00a0 \u00a9 Jeff Green, All rights reserved
\nJust a gawky little schoolgirl so they teased and pulled her hair
\nChased her right across the playground and then left without a care
\nShe had braces on her buck teeth awkward glasses on her nose
\nLike a flower in the desert unexpected beauty grows<\/p>\n
She seemed weaker than a daisy when she tried to join the game
\nDidn’t ever think to argue when they handed her the blame
\nWhen they shouted hurtful insults never found a word to say
\nBut an oak dies in a tempest while the daisy blooms next day<\/p>\n
Over years I watched them growing she was always at the edge
\nWhen they climbed the highest mountains she was balanced on a ledge
\nHow she tolerated bullies I could never understand
\nBut whenever one had fallen she was always there on hand<\/p>\n
Off to college finding partners she stayed local left alone
\nNow she seemed the ugly duckling when the other birds had flown
\nAll her old friends still ignored her they were far too blind to see
\nThat the times they were a changing that and more was clear to me<\/p>\n
When the first of them got married she was waiting at the church
\nThrowing rice and hoping living wouldn’t leave her in the lurch
\nBut her teeth were bright as diamonds and her eyes electric blue
\nBut her foolish friends saw ugly not the vision that was true<\/p>\n
It could never have been easy taking steps out on the stage
\nShe’d not told them of her passion couldn’t share with those her age
\nBut each day she tended tables she was working in her mind
\nOn the very different Sarah that one day the World would find<\/p>\n
When she moved away that summer no-one saw she wasn’t there
\nNever told them where I took her wasn’t news I had to share
\nShe had saved a tidy nest-egg and she’d learned to take a punch
\nShe looked like a frightened rabbit but was not an easy lunch<\/p>\n
I drove all the way to visit, maybe every week or two
\nKeeping quiet in the background and she told me what was new
\nWouldn’t take an easy option always acting on her terms
\nShe was slowly getting noticed, like a snake amongst the worms<\/p>\n
It was fun to see their faces on the day the pilot aired
\nBut perhaps they’d read the papers so they may have been prepared
\nThough she changed her name they know her as the awkward girl they shunned
\nNow possessed of so much beauty that the whole small town was stunned<\/p>\n
With her Oscar nomination she’s her home town’s greatest star
\nShe will never come to visit so they worship from afar
\nHow they wish they’d always loved her she could put them on the map
\nBut they tread on those who suffer with the slightest handicap<\/p>\n
She has never been a quitter, uses fame to fight her cause
\nHelping children get a future for the glow not for applause
\nI still love her with a passion and I dream of her each night
\nShe’s a pussy cat to cuddle but a tiger in a fight<\/p>\n
Author notes
\nPrompt<\/p>\n
This song kept going through my head while in bed so I got back up to run this
\ncontest. It is in honor of women everywhere. Men can honor women. Or women can
\nhonor their best friend or mother or whoever. The song is by Dolly Parton,
\n“She’s An Eagle When She Flies.” I want you to please listen to this song and
\ndo not just copy the words from the song in any fashion. I want the words
\nlistened too though.
\nEspecially this part, which is the prompt:
\nShe’s a sparrow when she’s broken, but she’s an eagle when she flies.<\/p>\n
Here is the link to the song:
\n