A Bit of Earth

Yes, child, come in

Thank you, sir

Are you well?

Do they take good care of you?

Yes, sir

Thank you, sir

Is there anything you need?

Would you like some toys, or books, or dolls, perhaps?

Might I...

Speak up, child

Might I have a bit of earth, sir?

A bit of earth?

To plant seeds in, yes sir

A garden

Do you care about gardens so much, then?

I didn't know about them in India

I was always ill and tired and it was too hot

A bit of earth

I sometimes played at making little flower beds, sticking things in the sand...

She wants a little bit of earth

She'll plant some seeds

The seeds will grow

The flowers bloom

But is their bounty

What she needs?

How can she chance

To love a little bit of earth?

Does she not know?

The earth is old

And doesn't care if

One small girl wants things to grow

She needs a friend

She needs a father

Brother, sister

Mother's arms

She needs to laugh

She needs to dance

And learn to work

Her girlish charms

She needs a home

The only thing she really needs

I cannot give

Instead she asks

A bit of earth

To make it live

She should have a pony

Gallop 'cross the moor

She should have a doll's house

With a hundred rooms per floor

Why can't she ask for a treasure?

Something that money can buy

That won't die

When I'd give her the world

She asks instead

For some earth

A bit of earth

She wants a little bit of earth

She'll plant some seeds

The seeds will grow

The flowers bloom

Their beauty just the thing she needs

She'll grow to love the tender roses, lilies fair

The iris tall

And then in fall

Her bit of earth will freeze and kill them all

A bit of earth, a bit of earth

A bit of earth, a bit of earth