The Riddle Song
In the time when the air smells
Like it does when I feel home and
The sky is lavender, filled with
The impending snow-
You drive me out to Goshen
On your day off
So I can hear my babies sing.
They sing in rhymes and riddles,
They sing of happy times,
Cradled in the large, cushioned seats
Of the music hall,
I sing them a lullaby and
You watch me, smiling.
The sky is dark and smoky but
Trains whistle through Goshen
In a multitude of tones,
Going this way and that
Like the voices of my children
When they sing familiar songs.
“The story that I love you,
It has no end”-
We sing, and the cadence
Beats through my veins
Like freight trains
Pulsing outward from
The heart of Indiana,
Steady and with intent.
Note: “The Riddle Song” is a traditional folk song/lullaby that I used to sing in my classroom when I was working as a preschool teacher.
