Rosemary's Sister from Tania Opland by Tania Opland

Rosemary's Sister
© Huw Williams

Brother of disaster, sister of our fate, do you count the tragedy we see?
And brother of confusion and sister debate, do you remember the sister of Rosemary?
The doodlebugs were flying, the blitz was at its height.
Rosemary lay sleeping with her sister, only nine.
And no one heard the one that hit- the one that blew the lid-
But Rosemary came out crying, and her sister never did.
You fly high, your dreams are all in vain;
One moment you are singing and the next you cry with pain,
And high above the heavens, in a host of angels' wings
Rosemary's sister will be dancing.

Her mother cried all that year, as so many others did, though there were moments when she'd pull through now and then.
And the people there in Bethnel Street, in the rubble and the stone, just swept it up and started on again.
When tyranny is biting, you do your best to try to stifle all your heartaches 'til it's safe again to cry.
And when the darkness disappears and the light comes shining through, Gather all that you have left and start anew.

There's a teacher in the classroom, there's a mother in the hall. The children sit and wait for the bell to go.
And Rosemary stands watching- she has a child there of her own, and she's waiting to collect and take her home.
Sometimes in the firelight in silence where she sits her mind goes back to Bethnel Street, the darkness and the blitz,
And she's heard if there's another one then the end will be complete. Well, I wonder what they'd say in Bethnel Street.

• Celtic
• Folk
• World
• blitz
• hammered dulcimer
• hurdy gurdy
• loss
• medieval folk
• sisters
• Suquamish