Mabel Williams - A Lament 

July 29, 1879 – May 7, 1881
South Belton Cemetery, Texas

O Mabel, little Mabel,
how sorrowful is this lonely place.

So small a grave,
so brief a life,
so many years of silence.

Once, there were arms to hold you,
a mother's voice to soothe you,
a father's love to shelter you.

What tears fell upon this ground?
What prayers were whispered through grief?
How does a mother surrender to the earth
the child she once carried beneath her heart?

And how does she leave?

O little Mabel,
they went away,
and you remained.

Their footsteps faded,
their voices grew silent,
and the years gathered between you.

They lived, they aged, they died,
and found their rest in distant earth.

But you remained.

No mother beside you,
no father near,
no familiar name to share your resting place.

Only a little stone,
the passing seasons,
and the sorrow of all that might have been.

O death, how cruel is your separation.
O time, how long your silence.

Yet even here,
where those who loved you could no longer come,
a gentle hand still tends your grave.

May the earth rest gently upon you, Mabel.
May the Lord gather you into His everlasting arms.
And may the mother who once held you,
the father who once loved you,
hold you again in heaven,
where there are no more graves,
no more partings,
and no little children left alone.