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A Southern Tale
Cora-lee was a lady,
A southern belle from Virginia.
She lived in a stately mansion with her daddy,
And she lived a fine life, wore fine clothes,
And ate fine food.
There never was a time when Cora-lee
Wanted for anything,
But she was different from other wealthy ladies
In her town -
She had a heart, and her daddy’s slaves knew it.
She treated them well,
Never calling them "niggers"
Or beating them,
And each time a new baby was born
To one of the slaves named Pearl,
Cora-lee visited, hiding beneath her skirts
Small handmade gifts for the tiny infant.
She was well loved, was Cora-lee,
But not by her neighbours who got to hear
Of her "friendship" with her slaves.
They had never heard of such a thing
In "all their born days",
And one by one they stopped calling on her.
Cora-lee found herself an outcast
Amongst her white friends,
But she did not give a care
’Cause she was content within herself.
One dreadful day, the Yankees came
And turned Cora-lee’s mansion into a mess
Of stinking, smouldering blackened beams.
But the Yankees had overlooked Pearl’s simple home,
Still standing by the river.
Cora-lee’s daddy was dead and she had nowhere to go,
So Pearl took Cora-lee in, gave her food,
Gave her clothes, and gave her comfort
And they became best friends
For the rest of their days.
And so it was that white befriended black,
And black befriended white
In the midst of all that strife,
And everything turned out -
Just fine.
© June Maureen Hitchcock January 2006