Lame Katie Poem by Alexander Anderson

Little lame Katie, with her golden hair,
And her dead mother's eyes, comes in to me,
Lays with a smile her crutch beside my chair,
Then shakes her curls and climbs up to my knee;


And as she sits, again I hear the tread
Of her, the spirit now sainted and divine,
Who walk'd with me a space, then bow'd her head,
Leaving this little life to cling to mine:


A tiny weight, yet hard, in truth, to bear
When left to strive without a mate alone;
Yet there was something that kept back despair
When I look'd into eyes so like her own.


I did my best to nurse the helpless thing,
And often, in my wish to make her smile,
Would I begin some old, sweet song to sing,
The warm tears gushing to my eyes the while.


But when she grew up, and could use her crutch
And run about, a load fell from my mind,
And lighter grew my task, though there was much
Still left for earnest thought and care behind.


But we were happy, and at night our hearth
Brighten'd with many a frolic between us two,
And God knows but my little cripple's mirth
Went to my heart as soft as summer dew.


The children, too, at times would come and say,
Looking up with their faces round and sweet,
'Katie must come with us to see us play,
Just by the corner, further down the street.'


Then, as she fetch'd her crutch, I turn'd about
And wrapp'd her snugly in her little shawl,
Kiss'd her, and off they went with leap and shout,
My poor dwarf'd thing the happiest of them all.


I, too, would often stand, unseen, to hear
Their merry laughter, and my heart would bound
When Katie's rose up, soft, and sweet, and clear—
Her mother's voice in bud in all its sound.


Then, when she came in, she would tell me all—
How Jane had placed her in the ring, and then
How Mary toss'd, and how she caught the ball,
Till in her prattle I grew young again.


So my rough being chords with her, but still,
When twilight darkens down, within my breast
The old wound opens up against my will,
When I lay my lame darling into rest.


But when I bow my head to hear her pray,
I know that near a spirit mother stands
Unseen, yet bright from realms of endless day,
Blessing us both with radiant lips and hands.


And so I dry my tears, and thank the love
That still has left this little link behind,
Daily to grow in strength, till far above
We walk in God's own light that will not blind.