Marlene

'Tis not of a sports star or a president or a prime minister and 'tis not of a queen or a king And 'tis not of a warrior or a high achiever whose praises I am about to sing But of an ageing German woman the years have left her looking gray She is such a generous person one who performs a good deed every day. Marlene she is in her late sixties she is one who has known heartbreak Her only child a daughter drowned in her early twenties and though her friends dragged her from the lake And tried their best for to revive her the life from her body had gone And without her nearest and dearest the grieving mother had to live on. Her husband he left her for another woman and she raised their daughter on her own Yet she has overcome her sorrows and few as brave as her I've known She is always so carefree and happy and helpful in her own sweet way And those who know her sing her praises and about her one bad word don't say. Her neighbour Raelene in her eighties on Marlene she likes to heap praise She says she is my guardian angel the woman don't cease to amaze She cleans my home and does my shopping and to help me goes out of her way And gratitude to her is all I can offer since money I don't have for to pay. When I sing of heroes and heroines I know who the great people are I know one she is living on our street from where I live her house is not far She has known more than her share of life's crosses but a good one cannot be kept down And she surely is an unsung heroine the best in our side of the Town.