Oh Blessed Mother,
\nwhat must we do
\nto go back to Sicily?
\nI hide in my house.
\nI hide in my children.
\nWhere is my doll by the door?
\nThe one I sat outside to receive the sun?
\nWhat has happened?
\nWhere will my babies go?
\nI am so tired.<\/p>\n
Where are my sisters?
\nThey would share my burden.
\nHelp me with the children.
\nI miss my mother.
\nWhere is she?
\nWe left her with her stone.
\nWho cuts away the weeds now?
\nWho tends to her on your holy days?
\nSave my soul!<\/p>\n
I wash my babies.
\nThey are clean and holy.
\nThey play and I protect their souls,
\nto bring them to you free of sin.
\nBut it is so hard Blessed Mother.
\nI have only time for my prayers.
\nOnly time to renounce my sin.
\nTry to protect my family and Antonio.
\nTo find a little rest.<\/p>\n
Did I bring that dolly with me?
\nNo. No.
\nWhy did I forget?
\nShe was my joy of joys.
\nLittle bundle of rags in the dust.
\nLittle angel with her scrap of lace.
\nWhere are the laces my mother had?
\nOh, I wish I had a piece.
\nI would prepare a blanket from them
\nfor my dolly.<\/p>\n
I would not have to worry
\nhow my children stray.
\nWhy we ever came to this place.
\nI can hide in my house Blessed Mother.
\nI can keep the bastards out!<\/p>\n
Why, oh why, were our beautiful
\nSicilian men not enough?
\nOur beautiful girls?
\nWhy did they marry Germans,
\nIrish?
\nI pray for their souls.<\/p>\n
Someday Blessed Mother,
\nlet me see the rooftops of my home again.
\nLet me see Papa return in his cart.
\nLet me hear the singing of my family.
\nFather, moving among us with his blessings.
\nThe bread soaked in oil.
\nThe good food.<\/p>\n
The children of good Sicilian blood.
\nAntonio with the face of a boy again.
\nAnd my mother wrapping me
\nin her black shawl.
\nForgive me Blessed Mother,
\nfor I have sinned.
\nI will say the rosary
\nas often as I am able,
\npure Mother of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oh Blessed Mother, what must we do to go back to Sicily? I hide in my house. I hide in my children. Where is my…<\/p>\n