Mum's Rhymes

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOWYour visit is over, and you've gone away,Early this cold and snowy day,The excited children making a fuss,Of the long, long ride in the Greyhound bus.I have had the spare bed put away,And grieved you could not longer stay,Torn down the little makeshift cot,That we had built for the tiny tot.Swept under the table there to find,The little toy you'd left behind,Soon I'd wiped out every trace,Of your sweet presence in the place.Looking out at the front door,Three pairs of footprints there I saw,Musing, my footsteps seemed to stray,And I walked along a little way.On the right of the path, two sturdy marks,And on the left, the baby pair,In between were mother's footprints,Dots of high heels showing there.Bright sun, do not rise awhile,Let not the dust or mud defile,Nor let your warm rays melt away,These little footprints, let them stay.These snowy marks are all that's left,And now I feel that I'm bereft,But the small impressions seem to say,"We'll come again another day."(Dedicated to Hope Swendsen)Eva M. R. SalwayMum's Poems pg 39