Hyde Buxton Merrick ~ THE DRAB LITTLE LADY

THERE is an old lady, quiet and gray,
Clad in drab calico, rocking away,
Who sits inside of me!

With needle and thread as she rocks to and fro,
Her greatest delight is to silently sew
On the patchy quilt of me!

Triangles, oblongs, yellows and reds,
Rosettes snowy white, with pink at the edge,
She fits in the quilt of me.

Astonishing polygons, every queer hue
She puts in worn places to make them all new,
To make a new quilt of me!

So patient and tireless, day after day,
Sitting and patching, I can oft' hear her say:
"Here's a new quilt of thee!"

But cutting she does with her shears, silver-bright.
She stops in her rocking and flashes her light
Down through the quilt of me!

Taking the orange and purple and green
Away on the blade, for they shouldn't be seen--
Patches I made for me!

So this little lady, quiet and gray,
Sits endlessly matching and patching away,
On the crumpled quilt of me!