The Lady of the Crossroads

The lady of the crossroads

Stepped out into traffic

Pushed a kid to safety

Quickly genuflected

Then she met her maker on the hood of a 66 Corvette

Never hesitated; no sign of regret

Madonna of the schoolyard

Impossible to equal

A carrot and a cudgel

No chance of a sequel

The sisters said she died before she ever knew man's love

In that state of purity so treasured up above

St. Mary of the crossroads

The lady of the crossroads

The subdivision's patron saint

A 20th century martyr

She died without the faintest taint

Before time or trouble got her

Woman in a doorway

Hair done up in curlers

Gazing at the traffic

Smoking Camel filters

Expressionless she watches as the grisly scene unfolds

Silently she turns away and lets the door slammed closed

The lady of the crossroads

St. Mary of the crossroads

The subdivision's patron saint

A 20th century martyr

Laid down her life without complaint

Before time or trouble got her

Walking down the highway

Girls in summer dresses

Bobbie pins and hair spray

Holding back their tresses

And they dream of lace and kisses

A husband for a wife

Little lambs scampering

Towards the butcher's knife

St. Mary of the crossroads

The lady of the crossroads

For Mary B. Lewis