Nancy Hanks by Katherine Kennicott Davis Lyrics

If Nancy Hanks
Came back as a ghost
Seeking news
Of what she loved most
She’d ask first
“Where’s my son?
What’s happened to Abe?
What’s he done?”

“Poor little Abe
Left all alone
Except for Tom
Who’s a rolling stone;
He was only nine
The year I died
I remember still
How hard he cried.”

“Scraping along
In a little shack
With hardly a shirt
To cover his back
And a prairie wind
To blow him down
Or pinching times
If he went to town.”
“You wouldn’t know
About my son?
Did he grow tall?
Did he have fun?
Did he learn to read?
Did he get to town?
Do you know his name?
Did he get on?”