Ballad of the Bright Side (last wishes)

Bring the song and bring the fire,

Sing it loud, sing it higher

"Always look on the bright side of life,"

Through laughter and sorrow and joy and strife.

Launch the boat on the Damariscotta tide,

Flaming arrows at the ready, stars as guide.

Set it blazing against the twilight sky,

Let the river carry me, burning, high.

Find me a patch of earth to call my own,

Where lilacs lean and wild things have grown

Where damp boughs whisper of old sweet days,

And Spring stirs the heart in a thousand ways.

Plant me crocuses, lilies-of-the-valley, daffodils bold,

Let Spring dance again in green and in gold.

Let moss weave carpets, and ferns unfurl,

And a tiny forest be spun from this world.

Strawberries wild in the morning dew,

Leaves of fire when the autumn winds blew,

Snow like a hush on a diamond-lit night,

Seasons turning in endless flight.

Give me Earth, rich and deep,

Give me Sky, wide and steep.

Let me be dust on a faraway breeze,

Let me be song in the rustle of leaves.

No stone to bind me, no monument high

Just laughter, and memory, and love in the sky.

But

Not yet, sweet world, not yet today

I have a little more still to say-

Not yet, sweet world ,

not yet.