Page 224 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

BALLAD OF BIRMINGHAM

(On the bombing of a Black church in Birmingham, Alabama,
1963)

"Mother dear, may I go downtown

Instead of out to play,

And march the streets of Birmingham

In a freedom march today?"

"No, baby, no, you may not go,

For the dogs are fierce and wild,

And the clubs and hoses, guns and jails

Aren’t good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone,

Other children will go with me,

And march the streets of Birmingham

To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,

For I fear those guns will fire.

But you may go to church instead

And sing in the children's choir."

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