There was a man
Who had a clan
Of seven pretty daughters;
It was his wish
To serve this dish
To seven wealthy suitors;
They had no ma,
T’was just their pa,
And he quite the browbeater–
He’d had a wife,
But what a life!
He found he couldn’t keep her!
He thought he’d be
A fine and free
Patriarch of the family,
He didn’t see
That there could be
Some problems with his thinking;
One by one,
His plans undone,
As each girl found a lover,
and none would be
Rich and free,
as soon he would discover;
To one a farmer,
Quite the charmer,
Came forth upon a mission,
The eldest sis
In utter bliss,
Ran off without permission!
That left six,
their pa betwixt
And worried to the core,
When another
Found a lover
working at the butcher store;
Now there’s five
Well, sakes alive,
These weren’t apologists,
But then the youngest
Got a fungus
and wed her dermatologist;
That left four
Their father swore
that they would marry wealth
Until that summer
came a drummer
and another left with stealth;
Now there’s three,
Well, glory be!
They’d be some rich man’s prize!
But number three
Went off to see
the circus in disguise!
Now here’s two;
Their pa was blue;
His fine plans lost all meaning;
But one he’ll keep
and not lose sleep
To cook and do the cleaning–
That left just one
and since no son
Was There for him to lean on,
He sent her out to keep
and tend their sheep,
And she became a brave one–
She worked the farm,
it was a charm,
As artists came to see her,
And all around
throughout the town
Women longed to be her
In fields she posed
For heaven knows,
T’was sometimes nude or dressed
She was well paid
and then one day
She married one–and left;
The girl at home
Who did not roam
Who cooked and did the cleaning,
Wrote poetry
that none would see
and asked if life had meaning;
Her pa, bereft,
had nothing left
No wealth to give him pride,
and so one day
He slipped away,
and quietly he died;
That left just one
and then one morn
a neighbor came to see her
To her he said
Let us get wed
and put our farms together;
and so they matched
between them hatched
the greatest farm around–
They grew quite rich
Without a hitch
While pa laid in the ground
the sisters came
to lay a claim,
demanding for a share,
The neighbor said
His voice like lead,
Not one of you had cared;
He chased them off
a broom aloft
And his wife was free,
That sweet girl said
As she sliced bread,
“Shall I make some tea?”
Sandra Lee Smith
Originally composted April 19, 2010
Updated July 30, 2018
