Aunt Mattie's Quilt

Aunt Mattie bent a thousand times down the long black
rows Then battled with the angry weeds so little seeds
could grow Come summer Mattie pulled the snow from
cruel and cutting bolls Round 'n round the spinning
wheel beneath Aunt Mattie's boot She was patient pale
and slender and was only eight years old Two winters
spun out summer's threads in rich and creamy folds
She recalled the soil and cotton seeds and summer's
hopeful shoots And she had a bolt of cotton cloth when
she turned ten years old If we bend and plant the seeds
and tame the wicked weeds If we follow in the barefoot
path of one persistent girl If we let the sun and rain
assist and simplify our needs Indigo and lavender
made up Aunt Mattie's sky We'll throw a healing quilt
across an ever ailing world The hour before the day
would end it fed young Mattie's dream Remembering her
childhood days she made the rustic dye She made indigo
and lavender when she turned just fourteen If we bend
and plant the seeds and tame the wicked weeds If we
let the sun and rain assist and simplify our needs
We'll throw a healing quilt across an ever ailing world
If we follow in the barefoot path of one persistent
girl Aunt Mattie bends a thousand times down each
patchwork row The valley of the shadow cannot call
her from her seams Piece by piece and stitch by stitch
in fading candle glow Until finishing her lifetime's
work she dies at seventeen If we bend and plant the
seeds and tame the wicked weeds If we let the sun and
rain assist and simplify our needs We'll throw a healing
quilt across an ever ailing world If we follow in the
barefoot path of one persistent girl