Violets

She's watering violets,
One - two - three - four.
She's watering violets,
Five, six, more and more.

She was sixteen,
She loved her job.
She liked to work with kids.
She taught them how to carve a tree,
Taught them how to knit.
But then the boys were called away,
Each one in his turn.
She knitted them socks,
She prayed for them.
Most did not return.

And she's watering violets,
One - two - three - four.
She's watering violets,
But it won't stop the war.

At twenty she had to leave her home.
Soon it was to burn.
She locked the door,
She took her bike.
Never to return.
Hundreds of miles away from home
She tried to settle down.
But refugees are never welcome
In any kind of town.

Now she's watering violets
One - two - three - four.
She's watering violets,
But she can't forget the war.

She sneaks into the market dump,
She takes them out, without noise.
"I can't let them die in there
Like all those beautiful boys."
And she's telling her daughter,
"Take a stand on war, be strong,
So you won't end up wondering,
'Where on earth did we go wrong?' "

While-watering violets,
One - two - three - four.
She's watering violets,
Five - six - more and more.

She's watering violets,
Violets she rescued before.
She's watering violets,
So she can forget the war.

She's watering violets.

©  Ingrid Heldt