Lillian & Martha

The paper sits upon the step

The messenger already gone

And Lillian sits next to it

And looks across the coming dawn

The type is bold enough to read

For eyes so tired and set with time

And Lillian cannot believe

The photograph and bold headline

She leaves the step and lights the stove

She heats the kettle, cracks the eggs

And from the porch the paper blows

It lifts and weaves and floats away

And Lillian she smooths her hair

She sits to rest her aching feet

And up the old and oaken stairs

Martha stirs and leaves a dream

She reaches out across the bed

And finds the sheets are tucked and cold

She calls aloud for Lillian

Her heart it beats and strains and slows

And Lillian she climbs the stairs

She hears her Martha's ragged breath

She lies beside her, calms her fears

It's alright darling you can rest

And long they lay there side by side

The breath of two becomes the one

And down the street the photo flies

Of Martha and of Lillian

Now the town it slowly wakes

Unrolls the paper, sits to read

The news it travels 'cross the state

Of hearts that struggle to be free

And from the front in love and tears

Lillian and Martha wave

The courthouse after fifty years

On their long awaited wedding day

Beyond the step the day begins

The heat it rises from the road

And down the stair comes Lillian

A promise kept, a band of gold