NaPM April 19 2016

[bedeep]

This is pretty rough but it's probably all I can do today. It's from a family story, and the moral is yours to draw. I think there may be several in there.

Annie Bell

Here is what happened to Annie Bell.
Was it good or bad? The tale does not tell,
but this is what happened to Annie Bell.

Just a young girl, she was put on a horse,
and given a sack of grain to carry
to the mill to be ground for flour.

It was after the war and the world was still torn
and many were weary and many were crazed
and the roads were not safe for highborn or low.

Still, grain must be ground, flour must be had,
and everyone living must do their part
so off she went on the horse with the grain.

They also gave her a gun to take,
and they loaded the gun with just one bullet.
The roads were not safe for man or child

and they told her exactly what she must do
if a man came upon her the while she rode
to the mill with the grain to grind.

She came home safe with the grain ground to flour,
the bullet still chambered, the gun unfired.
She grew fine and strong, but she never did marry.

Here is what happened to Annie Bell.
Was it good or bad? The tale does not tell,
but this is what happened to Annie Bell.