Fair And Tender Ladies (Herring Caroline)

You write about a place so dear In all it's good and evil A loving cup, an aching scar You need no thread and needle To sew your name into your clothes Or hem a ragged line All muscular and luminous Oh heroine of mine Ladies Oh ladies My ladies My fair and tender ladies You raised yourself from mud and spit And opened up your eyes Stretching out your graceful limbs From heart and soul on fire From sidewalks and handlebars Summer sun and evening stars And unincorporated streets Oh heroine I long to meet Ladies Oh ladies My ladies My fair and tender ladies Ladies You set aside your trays and flowers Like a ball and chain You understood a time and place Upon which you proclaimed Your skirt was not to hide behind Your womanhood no alibi You would not live so man could die Oh white-gloved heroine of mine Ladies Oh ladies My ladies My fair and tender ladies