Lyrics

Colored Threads
©2000 Barbara T. Webber

Colored threads on ivory cloth,
in and out she pulls them taut
Lets her dreams fly far and wide,
lifts her head and then she cries.

Farm work's hard on a woman's hands
and housework holds no glory.
When the book is written on these pioneer lands,
the woman fights for her story.
Her friend is the dim lamplight,
when all are asleep at night,
and she can be who she wants to be.

Chorus
Grandma's dreams are sewn in colors,
yellow hope and melancholic blue.
Grandma's prayers for her granddaughters
only ask that their dreams come true.

Colored threads on ivory cloth,
in and out she pulls them taut.
Lets her dreams fly far and wide,
lifts her head and then she sighs.

Once a year at the county fair,
the woman lays out her linens.
Clenches her hands in a panicked prayer
til they hand her the champion ribbon.
Takes them home to the cedar chest,
tucks them in for a decade's rest,
and wishes all could see what she can see.
Chorus

Colored threads on ivory cloth
in and out she pulls them taut.
Lets her dreams fly far and wide,
lifts her head with aging pride.

Gather round the Thanksgiving table,
Grandma always has a place.
Granddaughters come as you are able,
fold your hands and say our grace.
When we tell her all we've done,
she smiles at the rising sun,
and knows she can be just as free. Chorus