THE TUNE OF A LIE

  It was April and Saturday when we were there
In our dresses of lemon and mother-stroked hair
And we danced to the tune of the lilies fair
In our mother-sewn rosebud and lemony frocks
And our daisy-trimmed mother-darned faded white socks
How we danced to the beat of the adult clocks

We were cute out of place in this all-grown-up world
And our mother-made petals were drooping and curled
Father preened as with ladies he dipped and he twirled
But we glowed in the praise of a manifold stare
For the lemon lace dresses and the mother-stroked hair
We took cheer for the mother who couldn’t be there

In the glittering light of a million smiles
How the mother-stroked hair of a daughter beguiles
And how soon little girls adopt feminine wiles
It was April and Sunday he said his goodbye
And the mother-held pair saw the world in their eye
Not for him or his lady friends could we deny
How we’d danced to the tune of a lie