Dress and Bonnet by Janet Robb

Dress And Bonnet by Janet Robb

I am standing and all is whirling. Who am I? I am eight. This I know. Why am I wearing a dress and bonnet? Where is my ma? My nana said she’d followed my pa, But where? Where did they go? Who am I now and who will I be? Can anybody tell me? My sister is with the big girls. Bigger than me. My brother is gone to sea. I am eight. This I know.

But that child will die And in her place another one will grow, Part of a stricken tree, Strong enough to flourish, Strong enough to let her be This eight year-old in her new dress, In her new bonnet. Now remains the question. Who was she then, And who could she have been?