<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: canada-type-gibson, "Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT", Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: 600; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ballad of Birmingham</span><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; font-style: italic; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)</span></div><div><br></div><div>bu Dudley Randall</div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">“Mother dear, may I go downtown<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Instead of out to play,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And march the streets of Birmingham<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">In a Freedom March today?”<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">“No, baby, no, you may not go,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">For the dogs are fierce and wild,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And clubs and hoses, guns and jails<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Aren’t good for a little child.”<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">“But, mother, I won’t be alone.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Other children will go with me,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And march the streets of Birmingham<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">To make our country free.”<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">“No, baby, no, you may not go,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">For I fear those guns will fire.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">But you may go to church instead<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And sing in the children’s choir.”<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And bathed rose petal sweet,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">And white shoes on her feet.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">The mother smiled to know her child<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Was in the sacred place,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">But that smile was the last smile<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">To come upon her face.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">For when she heard the explosion,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Her eyes grew wet and wild.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">She raced through the streets of Birmingham<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Calling for her child.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">She clawed through bits of glass and brick,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">Then lifted out a shoe.<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore,<br></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-indent: -1em;">But, baby, where are you?”</div></div><div><br></div>—————————————————-<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.MoscowCares.net</span></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>