MRS. HAWKINS - YOUR FACE--------by Gary Loucks

HAWKINS COUNTY, TENNESSEE


Pure, unblemished beauty shown,
upon the face of hope.
Gazed upon by those who came,
to struggle and to cope.

Furrows cut in earth and brow,
a future planted here;
they worked the land- grew heart and soul,
and praised a God they feared.

To tame a troubled land is hard,
the work is never done.
But hope in future planted deep,
and left to rain and sun.

A bad land farm is hard to plow,
and rarely made a grow.
Success not always equals toil,
Nor gather what one sews.

Failures come and failures go,
and successes made them strong
They tried to reap just what they sowed
but many things go wrong.

When times were hard they struggled on,
and many did endure;
but there were those who couldn't stay,
their hopes and dreams unsure.


And, try they did with all their hearts to make the land their home,
and struggled to the end of hope,
and had to move along

The footprints of their pasts are clear,
in buildings long unkempt.
Where men and women labored hard,
and prayed to God and wept.

Mrs. Hawkins, you've seen them come,
and you've seen them go,
and they gave it all they had.
Your heart was joyed as you watched them come,
to toil upon your land.

But, now the forest and the trees,
are claiming back the soil,
The families come no more, it seems,
to work and build and toil.

The traces linger everywhere,
of your children's hopes and dreams,
the frameworks against time still stand,
They never fall it seems.

The lives that tried to do and failed,
moved on to other dreams.
The ones that stayed and made a life,
had stronger backs, it seems.

To measure joy by wealth and coin,
is folly to be sure.
To put ones trust and faith in God,
their futures will endure.

Many left but many stayed,
to struggle on in life,
and plant the seeds of hope in soil,
and deal with joy and strife.

Wooden planks stand on the land,
they mark the places well,
Where the earth denied a life be made,
and many lives were hell.

And yet, with all the aches and pains,
There are those who laugh and smile,
And thumb their noses at the rain,
and will work and stay awhile.

So, children made by the one's that stayed,
have strengthen all resolve,
for families futures bright and sure,
and happiness for all.

Your face is weathered, dark by sun,
and your wrinkles deep and long.
Road maps upon a face that's seen,
the struggles of the strong.

Mrs Hawkins, they gave their hearts to you,
their trust and souls to God.
Did the best they could upon your land,
grew crops where once was sod.

Their laughter can be heard at night,
and their labors never end,
But Sunday morning God is thanked,
with a unified AMEN

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