GRANDMOTHER'S RAP

[This rap rhythm is compulsive - should
be read aloud in "Mid Atlantic" accent]

When I was young I had two fine sons,
Lively, lovely, exhausting sons.
My life was bounded by my two fine boys,
Lookin' to me for their sorrows and joys.
At the end of each day I'd sing to 'em in bed
With a nearly wordless hummin' comin' into my head.
And they called it: "Momma's Own Rap!"

Then the time it passed and my two fine boys
Found themselves wives to share their joys.
Then nobody needed this poor old self,
And I felt that I was put on the shelf.
No more "Momma's Own Rap!"

Then the time it passed and my boys and their wives
Got them little children to share their lives,
And then they needed their poor old Mum,
For I went a-running when they called: "Come!"
Grandmother's Rap!
So again I'm a-comforting sorrows and joys
As I tend to the children of my two fine boys,
And mercy me! - I git that tired!
Yet I know this is what my heart desired.
Grandmother's Rap!

So, Lord, when I git to Eternity,
Please, Lord, this is what you do with me:
Leave me to tend on your little ones,
The children of your children, all your daughters and sons.
Grandmother's Rap!

I will tend your little children through each livelong day,
Then tuck 'em up to bed in the Milky Way!
And as their breaths come quiet and slow
I will sing that song learned long ago.
I was young when I learned it, and I didn't know its name,
Nor I didn't know I'd git the chanct to sing it again.
It's a nearly wordless hummin' comin' into my head,
For the end of the day, for children in bed.
And it's called: "Grandmother's Rap!"
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