Lord, help me thread the needle
For my sight has almost gone.
Houses nearly shattered,
the fabric has been torn:
Lord, your bride is tired and weary
And her dress is none too clean.
But I’ll ply the needle, mother,
To mend your tattered seam.
Lord, help me work the needle
Warp and woof are pulled apart:
--doors flung off their hinges
and windows painted shut—
Lord, your children strive for faithful
But are often cruel and mean.
Still, I’ll ply the needle, mother
To mend your tattered seam.
Lord, help me hold the needle
For my joints are stiff and sore.
--brothers in the courthouse
and sisters gone to war!
Lord, my heart is near to breaking
And my fingers crack and bleed.
Still I’ll ply the needle, mother,
To mend your tattered seam.
Lord, help me drive the needle
Through this coarse and ragged cloth.
I can’t see the pattern;
the color’s all but lost...
Lord, please help me drive the needle
And I’ll help reweave the dream.
Then we’ll ply the needle, mother,
To mend your tattered seam.
Yes! We'll ply the needle, mother,
To mend your tattered seam.
7 comments:
Me thinks you have baffled your readers.
Yeah, but that's okay too.
I posted this because of the angst I found written on someone else's blog.
At least I've actually posted in recent memory.
At least you have created a blog on which to post!
Is this your own composition or is it something I should recognize and am showing my ignorance by admitting I don't?
wasn't baffled, just looking for something i remember reading back in like 8th or 9th grade.
it was written by one of the pioneer women, a mormon i think.
same rhythm to it. or a couldn't find it and of course i can't remember if it was in a collection by multiple authors or a collection of writtings by one woman.
i wish to hell i could find it. i think you would enjoy it.
did you write this as a hymn or as a poem? i think it would work as either.
Jaz, this is an original composition. I wrote it after Rick Warren was a guest preacher earlier in the year. He managed during the forum to come out with a painfully paternalistic statement which made me angry (re: pastor as daddy--YECH!). My response was to play with "feminine" language. In addition, I continue to be upset about the rifts in the Church. It all just kind of came together.
Heather, the same morning Rick Warren pissed me off we (the choir) sang a Moses Hogan spiritual. Those rhythyms were very much in my blood when I wrote this. I definitely hear it being sung--rather, I sing it in my house--but the jury is out on whether anyone would be bold enough to sing it in public.
I like it - I wish I had some knowledge of the music you have in mind for this.
btw - I didn't realize you were blogging again. Lately, when I've checked your page, nothing new came up. Maybe I got here by a different route this time? Anyway, terrific as ever.
Thanks, Plug! Now, what do we have to do to get you blogging again????
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